The Juan Soto Effect on Pete Alonso

Aaron Judge won his second Most Valuable Player Award in 2024, leading all of Major League Baseball in numerous offensive categories. Some of the credit for his monster season goes to Juan Soto, who would hit in front of Judge for most of the campaign. While there is no doubt that Judge will one day go to the Hall of Fame, there is nothing wrong to have some help, as Soto provided last year. One year later, and in a different borough, Soto is helping out another slugger.

Pete Alonso is embracing the Juan Soto effect. Credit: Sports Illustrated

Pete Alonso is experiencing a rebirth, thanks to Juan Soto.

To be fair, as in Judge’s case, Alonso has had great years prior to Soto arriving. After all, he ranks third on the all time New York Mets’ home run list, potentially being the leader at season’s end. However, there was also a dip in production over the last three years going from 46 home runs in 2022 to 34 in 2024. Solid numbers but the sense was that at age 30, more regression could follow.

Not in 2025.

Alonso is hitting .378 and leads the National League in home runs and slugging. This is the Soto effect of hitting in front of him. Soto puts so much pressure on opposing pitchers that it seems as though they are exhausted when it is time to face the next hitter. When Soto reaches base, the pitcher tries to pitch too carefully to Alonso in order to minimize the chance of a big inning. Take last night’s game against the A’s as an example. In the top of the fifth inning, JP Sears had Soto down in the count 0-2. After a couple of foul balls and pitches out of the strike zone, the count went to 3-2. Soto then laced a single, bringing up Alonso. On the eighth pitch, Alonso cracked a run scoring double. He then provided the difference in the Mets’ 7-6 victory with a solo home run in the eighth inning. Even when Soto does not reach base, Alonso’s at bats seem to be easier.

Pete Alonso may very well opt out of the final year of his contract and try to secure the long term deal he did not get this past offseason. That’s a story for November and beyond. Like his effect on the Yankees last year, Juan Soto is doing his job this year: making the Mets’ lineup more dangerous.

MLB Managers: Safer than NBA Coaches

When it comes to firing head coaches, no one does it better than the NBA. This was borne out earlier in the week when the Denver Nuggets fired their coach, Mike Malone, two years after he led the team to the NBA title. The Nuggets were literally three games from completing the regular season and they decided to overhaul (General Manager Calvin Booth was let go the same day) their most recognizable non-players. In fact, several NBA Championship coaches who won recently were all fired within two years of winning it all (Nick Nurse, Mike Budenholzer, Frank Vogel). Not only was Malone canned recently but Taylor Jenkins, the best coach in Memphis Grizzlies’ history was fired with nine games left in his team’s season.

Rob Thomson took an opportunity and ran with it to the World Series. Credit: Sports Illustrated

There have been plenty of instances in baseball where a change in manager can get a team going all the way to the playoffs and beyond. Just look at the Phillies who fired Joe Girardi in May 2022, promoted Rob Thomson and went to the World Series. However, it just doesn’t happen in baseball when a team is close to the playoffs in say, September and an organization decides to change the manager. The instance I can think of is the 2008 Brewers who fired Ned Yost with 12 games left in the regular season and gave the job to Dale Sveum. The Brewers won the Wild Card but lost to the Phillies in the first round. Most times, when a manager gets fired toward the end of the season, that team is not going to the playoffs. Usually, organizations are not in a hurry to fire successful managers. The one notable exception was, again, Girardi, this time with the Yankees. He won a World Series in 2009 and led the team through a transition in the middle part of the 2010’s. Girardi and the 2017 Yankees made it all the way to Game 7 of the ALCS. His reward? He was asked not to come back.

Sure, there have been a fair share of head scratching managerial changes. Girardi’s case is notable , as is Mike Shildt getting let go by the Cardinals after the 2021 season. However, MLB managers enjoy job security that NBA coaches can only dream about. The stability for NBA coaches is so tenuous, that they should think about forming a union.

Don Mattingly’s Rotten Baseball Luck

The New York Mets hosted the Toronto Blue Jays for three games this past weekend. Along the way, we got some pictures of the Blue Jays’ bench coach, none other than the great Don Mattingly. Mattingly obtained this position prior to the 2023 season, the latest stop in a post playing career that has seen him manage both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins. New York swept Toronto, dropping the Jays to .500. With the contract of Bo Bichette set to expire at the end of the season and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. inking a long term extension, the pressure is on the Jays to make the playoffs. If they fail to make it to the postseason, there is the possibility of a regime change. And with that, the rotten baseball luck of Don Mattingly would continue.

Don Mattingly’s bad luck needs to stop. Credit: Englewood Daily Voice

If you are a Yankees’ fan of a certain age like me, Don Mattingly was your favorite player. He was the Man, a bright light in an otherwise dim era of Yankee baseball. He came up to the Majors surrounded by the likes of Dave Winfield, Ron Guidry and Willie Randolph and was on the team in 1990 when they finished last, with George Steinbrenner being kicked out of baseball during the season. Derek Jeter was booed. Mickey Mantle was booed. Mariano Rivera was booed. Mattingly was the only Yankee superstar I can think of who never had a bad word said about him at the Stadium. The fans understood that even in the darkest of days in the late 80’s and early 90’s, Mattingly was the guy we latched onto and for whom we had great sympathy throughout this chaotic period of time. When his back started giving him trouble in 1990 and robbed him of certain Hall of Fame immortality, he became even more of our hero.

Don Mattingly’s rotten baseball luck began when he was called up. He debuted in 1982, the year after the Yankees made the World Series, losing in six games to the Dodgers. Mattingly then became part of the longest playoff drought in franchise history, only reaching October baseball in his last season, 1995. Immediately after he retired, the Yankees put together their latest dynasty, with four World Series championships over the next five seasons. After a five year stretch that saw Mattingly establish himself as one of, if not the best player in the game, he suffered a debilitating back injury which sapped his power. He would never hit 20 home runs in a season again. Mattingly’s bad luck didn’t stop after his retirement. He became a Yankees’ coach in 2004. Care to guess what happened that year? That would be the Boston Red Sox epic comeback from down 0-3 to beat New York in the ALCS. When Joe Torre was let go as the Yankees’ manager after the 2007 season, Mattingly was looked at as a potential replacement. The job went to Joe Girardi. Mattingly then followed Torre to the Dodgers. A year after leaving, what did the Yankees do? They won the 2009 World Series. Mattingly then became the Dodgers’ manager in 2011 under the ownership of Frank McCourt who nearly wrecked the franchise. He left the Dodgers after the 2015 season and are now considered baseball’s best franchise. Mattingly next became the manager of the Marlins in 2016 and after a lot of losing (and a COVID playoff appearance), resigned after the 2022 season. Would you believe the Marlins made the playoffs the following season?

Don Mattingly deserves a World Series appearance. I don’t care how he gets it, what team he is with or if he unretires for a week to play for the Dodgers. No one has dealt with more misfortune in a baseball life than him. If the Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series in 2025, I will be a happy man. It means my guy finally gets a ring.

What If She Didn’t Pick the Phillies?

I was driving home from work on Friday listening to the Yankees play the Pirates. In the fifth inning, Isiah Kiner-Falefa was picked off by Max Fried to record the second out of the frame. As the rest of the inning played out, you could hear the Pittsburgh crowd chanting, “sell the team”, this after a plane flew over the stadium imploring owner Bob Nutting to sell the Pirates. It was right at that point that I wondered aloud about something I never even gave a second thought.

I am thankful Caitlyn became a Phillies fan. Credit: WHYY

What if Caitlyn didn’t pick the Phillies as her team?

I think I have mentioned how Caitlyn became a Phillies fan. Toward the end of the 2016 season, the Mets were beating up Philadelphia as they drove to the Wild Card game. Matthew was becoming a little bit too loud for Caitlyn’s taste so she declared her allegiance to the Phillies on the spot. I thought about this while driving because the Phillies are really good now. If it were the Pirates that happened to be playing the Mets at that time in 2016, would she have picked them? What about the White Sox? The Angels? All three of those franchises are currently lost with little hope in sight. More importantly, would Caitlyn be as much of a baseball fan now if she had rooted for a team that consistently finished under .500? Granted, it took the Phillies another four years to break .500 but her loyalty has resulted in three consecutive playoff appearances, including a World Series berth.

The most fortunate aspect for Caitlyn choosing the Phillies is the ease in which we can go see them play at their ballpark. Can you imagine if she became a Dodgers or Giants fan? I don’t think we would be making many trips to see their home games. Thank goodness the Mets crushed the Phillies nine years ago. Following three good teams throughout the course of the baseball season makes each day so much fun.

Three Teams, One Family: How Do We Watch the Games?

One of the more challenging aspects of having three different favorite teams under one roof is deciding which game to watch. We do enjoy watching baseball together as a family, making it difficult to keep one station on for more than an inning. One would think that with me being the Dad and Ryan being the oldest child we should give the lion’s share of the viewing to the Yankees. However, with me seeing lots of Yankee victories over the years, I’d rather choose the happiness of my kids over my own interests.

Pete Alonso and the Mets are no always the game of choice. Credit: New York Post

So how do divide the television viewing up equally?

First off, I have been a little lax ordering MLB Extra Innings. That means Caitlyn does not get to watch her team as much as the boys get to watch theirs. Whenever the opportunity arises to catch a Phillies game on TV, we watch them over the Yankees and Mets. Perhaps this is the year we go back to Extra Innings and Caitlyn can get a chance to see her team a little bit more. MLB At Bat is always live in our house. Therefore, when we get a notice of a big inning, the child whose team is not the game of choice, goes to one of the other two TV’s to watch. I will sometimes stroll back and forth between the two rooms to see what unfolds. I do have the Optimum app so if we want to remain in one room, we put the other game on the app. Sometimes, we may decide that the more completive game is the one we view. Whenever there is a blowout, both on the winning and losing side, we shut that game off and go to the better one. Needless to say, there is a lot of channel surfing going on for at least six months.

We will not get to the point where more than another television finds its way into the living room. The setup we have now works just fine. No matter whose team is on, we will all root for them except when they play one another. Even when there is a Mets-Phillies game or Yankees-Mets contest, we are all respectful to one another….most of the time.

Torpedo Bats: Advantage or Myth?

Who knew that the biggest story of the MLB season so far would be a bat? More specifically, the Torpedo bats that the New York Yankees “unveiled” over the weekend against the Milwaukee Brewers. Nine home runs in a single game will bring you lots of attention and since Saturday, most of the baseball world can’t stop talking about the Torpedo. However, they are not new to Major League Baseball, nor limited to the Yankees. Giancarlo Stanton used one last year while Francisco Lindor and Elly De La Cruz have been using them this year. So is this bat a game changer?

Jazz Chisholm, Jr. is one of the Yankees using the Torpedo. Credit: Sports Illustrated

One weekend series is a ridiculously small sample size. Sure the the Yanks clubbed 15 home runs in three games. However, four of them were hit by Aaron Judge who does not use the Torpedo. Also, one day after leaving New York, the Brewers’ pitching staff was torched for 11 runs by the Kansas City Royals, a team not advertising use of the Torpedo. Players are now very interested , with the belief that, they too, can pad their offensive numbers. Having a bigger barrel would most certainly be an advantage, one that I am sure the league does not mind because, you know, offense is what brings attention. Or, as a certain Hall of Fame pitcher said on a commercial a couple of decades ago, “Chicks dig the long ball”.

The bottom line is that though appears the Torpedo is giving hitters a leg up, we won’t know more until at least a month into the season. By that time, I would speculate the majority of hitters will be using them and we can begin to compare numbers to previous seasons. The Phillies’ Matt Strahm had an interesting observation from a pitcher’s point of view, one that has some merit. In fact, if the Torpedo is here to stay, maybe baseball can rethink pitchers using pine tar. That I would love to see.

First Series Recap: A Mixed Bag

The Major League Baseball season just started. Yet, much like returning to school after Summer vacation, it doesn’t take long to feel as though baseball never left. If you scour over the landscape this weekend, teams of most fans feel as though the 2024 season is still continuing. The Dodgers are winning, the Pirates can’t get out of their own way and the Guardians continue to prosper despite offseason maneuverings. For those of us who are Yankees, Mets and Phillies fans, the same highs and lows that have been a part of this household for years were on full display over these past four days.

Bryson Stott and the Phillies had a good start to the season. Credit: Fox 29 Philadelphia

New York Mets

One can say that last season’s NLCS appearance should absolve the Mets from early criticism. However Matthew and I seem to have the same conversation every year. They pitch really well but they can’t hit when it matters, and sometimes like Saturday night, not at all. It won’t be an 0-6 start but suddenly the Mets are about to run into a hot team in the Miami Marlins. There is no panic in the house right now although Beatrice seems to think that Juan Soto should get a hit every time he comes to the plate based on what he is being paid. Matthew is more reserved but is still frustrated about scoring six runs in three games. He didn’t even bother watching the ninth inning of the series finale.

New York Yankees

Ryan doesn’t have Gleyber Torres to kick around anymore but five errors in one game? That is about the only negative to the hot start by the reigning, defending American League champions. After demolishing Brewers’ pitching with 15 home runs, the Yanks’ choice of bats is catching some attention. The pitching wasn’t the best but it didn’t have to be. Ryan and I are both confident that it will come around once the weather starts getting better. The two of us believe that the offense will continue to crank out a bucket full of runs even without Giancarlo Stanton. When Ryan returns home in less than three weeks, anything less than a first place standing will be a major disappointment.

Philadelphia Phillies

“We should have swept them”. That was Caitlyn’s remark after the Phils dropped the series finale 5-1 to the Washington Nationals. Still, she’s happy they won two of their first three games on the road. It’s always a roller coaster of emotions watching games with her. One minute she is proud of them, the next minute, well they stink. On balance, this is a much better start than the last two seasons when they were swept in Texas in 2023 and dropped two out of three to the Braves to begin 2024. Much less angst to begin this year and I even detected a smile or two.

New York Mets on Apple TV: Killing Our Friday Night

Ryan came home for a quick weekend visit this weekend. In fact, he is laying on the couch as I write this. When we found out he would be coming home for his cousin’s Confirmation on Saturday, we knew it was on the second day of the baseball season. Perfect timing. Upon looking at the schedule, we saw the Yankees and Phillies would be off so the Mets would have our undivided attention, playing in Houston at 8:10 PM. However, there was just one small problem with this perfect scenario.

No Mark Vientos and the Mets for us on Friday night. Credit: Forbes

The Mets and Astros are playing on Apple TV.

We don’t have Apple TV.

Look, I know this is now the fourth season of games streaming exclusively on Apple TV. The complaints about games being blacked out in local markets are long gone by now. That doesn’t mean we still can’t be annoyed by this ridiculous setup. The NFL Thursday night package on Amazon allows the local TV markets to view their contests. The Jets and Giants are one of the major networks on Thursday nights when they play. Actually, the NFL is the one league in which consumers would buy a streaming service just so they could favorite team play. The other sports, including baseball don’t have that luxury, a result of having so many games. The only reason I can come up with as to why we don’t receive our local teams on Apple TV nights is that Apple pays MLB more not to broadcast in local markets. Brilliant strategy for alienating your fans.

The next time you hear an MLB official say how important the fans are, refer to this post. If MLB was really looking out for fans, this Apple deal would never have gone through as presently constructed. Baseball needs more fans; this is not how you gain them. Take less money, give us the Apple games in our markets and don’t ruin a Lynch Friday night again.

MLB Opening Day: Family Gears Up

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.

Which baseball book will I read next?

Ryan will complain about Aaron Boone.

Caitlyn will say one Phillies’ loss will lead to a ten game losing streak; then a Phillies’ win will turn into a World Series parade.

Matthew, by game three, will be on the lookout for a trade that will help the Mets.

I look forward to everyone under one roof (or a road trip) talking baseball.

This really is like Christmas.

Can’t wait.

Can I Win Fantasy Baseball Please?

For a period of about twelve years, I did not play fantasy baseball. Once the breakup of our longtime league took place, I disassociated myself from the activity, thinking that just watching the game was plenty for me (it still is). Then in 2019, my buddy Steve told me about a league that was short a player. After going through the coaching wars with Steve, I decided to give it a shot. I have learned to not get too emotionally involved with winning and losing and, unlike football, I am able to watch baseball without having to worry about how my players are doing. I’ve had some degree of success with semi final appearances in two seasons. However, I would be lying if I said I am good with finishing consistently out of the money.

Kyle Tucker, my #1 pick. Credit: Chicago Sun Times

Here is hoping that 2025 is the year my luck changes.

I do have Caitlyn and Matthew involved a little but with my drafts. Matthew has his own league; they drafted in January and make all kinds of moves prior to the season starting. He is a little more objective and is a little better with helping me select the right man. All Caitlyn wants to do is have me draft Phillies’ players. I do try to grab at least one guy from the Yankees, Mets and Phillies, depending on where I am in the draft. I don’t have a particular strategy but I do try to pick quickly instead of taking the entire 90 seconds. I have three guys in mind when it’s getting closer to my turn. The only danger is that if all three are taken, I tend to scramble for a pick. It is very rare that I walk away from a draft thinking that my team is not any good.

I am 100% confident I can win this year. I had the 10th pick in a 12 team league. See below for my team, XWOBA, Sr. My first pick was Kyle Tucker. True to my word, I drafted one, even two, from each team: Austin Wells, Mark Vientos, David Peterson, Orion Kerkering and Cristopher Sanchez. I will keep you posted throughout the year.