Category: Review & Forecast

The Week Ahead in Major League Baseball May 27-June 2

It’s hard to believe the Major League Baseball season is already two months old. The warm weather is finally here and school is almost done. We are starting to get an idea of which teams are serious contenders, which are headed for a long Summer and the rest, well, they teeter between slightly below or slightly above average. There is a World Series rematch this week as the Arizona Diamondbacks will visit the Texas Rangers for two games. We will also see how the Atlanta Braves fare with Ronald Acuna, Jr beginning a stint on the Injured List. Here is what else will be going on this week around the league.

Aaron Judge goes to San Francisco for the first time since Arson Judge appeared. Photo from Fox News.

Series to Watch: Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers

It’s a battle for early control of the National League Central as the second place Cubs visit the first place Brewers. The Crew is a feisty bunch; Sunday against the Boston Red Sox was the third time this year Milwaukee was involved in a benches-emptying encounter. Cubs’ fans always make a Milwaukee their home away from home. Aces battle on Wednesday when Shota Imanaga pitches agianst Freddy Peralta. The two teams face each other for the second time in 2024. The Cubs won two out of three games at Wrigley Field during the first weekend in May.

Player to Watch: Aaron Judge

Since a slow April, Judge has been near impossible to get out. He is hitting .359 over his last 30 games with 13 home runs. On Tuesday, he goes to San Francisco for the first time since he came oh-so-close to signing with the Giants after the 2022 season (remember Jon Heyman’s Arson Judge tweet?). I’m sure the venom Giants’ fans have for the Los Angeles Dodgers will come out during Judge’s plate appearances. The Yankees then travel to Anaheim for the weekend; Judge owns 11 home runs vs the Angels in 31 career games.

Turnaround for the Cincinnati Reds?

Things are looking up in Cincinnati. The Reds are coming off a home weekend sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers and now have a chance to make up ground in the National League Central. Up next are three games against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals followed by a weekend set in Chicago vs. the Cubs. Nick Lodolo makes his return this week from a groin injury and Alexis Diaz picked up back-to-back saves against the Dodgers, showing signs he is out of his early season funk.

Hot in Cleveland

The Guardians are riding a nine game winning streak. Up next is a trip to Colorado to take on the Rockies, one of the worst teams in the National League. The weekend brings a visit from the Washington Nationals who are better but still below .500. Despite the streak, the Guardians are still only 2.5 games ahead of the Kansas City Royals. These next two series offer the opportunity for Cleveland to increase their lead in the American League Central.

MLB Highlights Review May 19-May 25

I’d like to add another new feature to my blog. Each week, I want to showcase five plays from this week’s games that are worthy of extra love. Some you may have seen, some you may not. There is a plethora of clips to choose from and honestly, it could take me a week to say which are the top five. Instead, what I will present each week are five great plays, in no particular order.

Let’s get the party started!

Fittingly enough, the very first highlight presented will be from a game I attended. Check out Corey Julks robbing Jose Trevino of a home run.

Lars Nookbar pulls off a nifty double play, you know, the routine 9-3 kind.

Matt Chapman with the throw and Lamond Wade, Jr with the pick to win the game for the San Francisco Giants.

Ceddanne Rafaela with the big time stretch.

Seiya Suzuki slides perfectly.

The Week Ahead in Major League Baseball (May 20-May 26)

This is the start of a weekly feature looking at the following week’s activities in Major League Baseball. I will look at the series I feel you should pay attention to as well as focusing one one specific player. Beyond those two items, the rest of the post will feature anything that pops into my scattered but fertile baseball mind. Like this blog, I am sure it will be ever changing and, over time, will be improved with each entry. Enjoy the maiden voyage of this new feature!

Catch Shota Imanaga this weekend against the Cardinals. Photo from the Chicago Sun Times.

Series to Watch: Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals

The Cubs are two games out of first place in the National League Central while the Cardinals are six games under .500. Fans of both teams will tell you this is the best rivalry in baseball. We’ve never had a true two team pennant race between the clubs since the switch to three divisions thirty years ago. They will have tough early week matchups prior to their clash over the weekend with the Cubs visiting the Atlanta Braves and the Cards hosing the Baltimore Orioles. The first series matchup of the season between them features a national audience on Sunday Night Baseball.

Player to Watch: Shota Imanaga

Paul Skenes is getting all the hype and Ranger Suarez has been the best pitcher on the best team in baseball. Somehow, the Cubs’ Imanaga has been slightly overlooked despite an ERA of less than 1 through nine starts. He is due to start on Friday, getting his first taste of the storied Cubs-Cardinals history. The St. Louis offense has been terrible in 2024 so it will be interesting to see how the rookie deals with them.

Ugly Alert:

It could get nasty in Chicago this weekend. The American League worst White Sox host the Orioles, led by home run leader Gunnar Henderson. Chicago’s pitchers have allowed a Majors-worst 63 homers not exactly a good recipe when facing a team that has hit the most round-trippers. The White Sox would prefer to see a different AL East team, the Tampa Bay Rays as they took four of six from them earlier in the year. After getting swept by the New York Yankees this weekend and then traveling to Toronto for a series against the Blue Jays before hosting the O’s, the Sox could fall further into the abyss by this time next week.

Underachiever Series: Miami Marlins at Arizona Diamondbacks

These two playoff teams from 2023 are a combined 21 games under .500. The Marlins have already punted on 2024 with their trade of Luis Arraez. Arizona has a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers starting on Monday, who would love to inflict more damage on the team who eliminated them last postseason. Though Miami is too far gone to dream of October baseball, this series may represent the start of the last chance for the D-backs to defend their National League crown. After the Marlins depart, Arizona has a stretch until June 21 of playing teams .500 and under.



MLB Spring Breakout: Showcasing the Next Generation

Starting on Thursday, March 14, MLB Network will be be broadcasting a series of games called MLB Spring Breakout. These games will feature two MLB teams playing against one another, with each team made up of the organization’s top prospects. This is the first time Major League Baseball has conducted such an event and hopefully we will get to see more of this in the future. The full list of games can be found by clicking here.

Paul Skenes will be a part of the first ever Spring Breakout. Photo from Yahoo Sports.

Spring Breakout is similar to the Arizona Fall League, which showcases six prospects per organization, making up six teams, and playing a six week season in October and November. This is another great way for MLB to showcase their future stars and get fans excited about the next generation of players. Guys from the NBA and the NFL are tracked long before they make their professional debuts thanks to the popularity of college basketball and college football. It also helps that these athletes play right away once they are drafted. That’s not the case in baseball where a high schooler could be taken in the first round but not debut until three years later. Events like the Arizona Fall League and now the Spring Breakout allow fans to not have to wait as long to see top prospects play meaningful games.

MLB is starting out strong on the first game of the series as the previous two #1 overall picks will face off against one another. Paul Skenes, last year’s top selection will have his Pittsburgh Pirates take on Jackson Holliday and the Baltimore Orioles. In order for this to be considered a success, both players must be featured for a large segment of the game. Skenes needs to pitch at least two innings while Holiday needs to bat at least twice. Every game will be shown on one platform or another with the Pirates-Orioles being broadcast on MLB Network at 7:05 PM EST.

I hope Spring Breakout becomes the Spring equivalent to the AFL. The more we see these future starts, the less we will want to wait to catch them during the course of the regular season.