First week thoughts. Small sample size, yadda yadda, I know. These are just random thoughts from a casual observer.
Starting Pitching: 7.53 ERA. That’s tough to see in black and white. Well, Keuchel’s control problems are surprising but I am not yet concerned. Cold air seems to be the common denominator and the amount of time he spent scuffing up the ball in the first two games suggests he did not have a good grip in either game. Maybe he needs to do a little “Moises Alou-ing” to fix things up. McHugh is a concern, especially with his interesting spring and, especially, the last game of the spring. He’s shown to be smart, effective and, especially adept at making adjustments evidenced by his second half the last two years but I’ve kept wondering when the League would catch up to him. Smart pitchers are constantly tweaking as the league adjusts but if those pitching tweaks take him out of his sweet spot regarding capabilities, it could be a tough year. I’m not ready to christen him the next incarnation of Lima Time but it’s something I’ll be looking for over his next few starts. In my first look at him this season, Fister looks like a real pitcher. He looks like he knows what he’s doing out there and, as he distances himself from the shoulder problems from last year and gets into the groove of the season, I’m expecting good things from him. Likewise, as Feldman settles in, I expect some of the same as well. Hope he can stay healthy for most or all of the season. Fiers pitched about like I expected. He’s got the tools but uneven performances were a part of his history that I am hoping Strom, Castro and the analytics team can help iron out over time. That said, I am glad to hear that McCullers’ rehab is going well. It’ll be good to have him back.
Relief Pitching: 6.65 ERA. Not much better than the SP’s although Gregerson has been excellent in his limited opportunities and Devenski looked great n his one appearance. Giles looks like he’s trying hard to impress, hopefully that calms down a bit and he pitches to his strengths. We don’t need a Gas Can 2.0. Right now, the decision to insert Gregerson into the closer slot looks genius.
Batting: Tyler White is a revelation. In my week of watching, it is not clear to me that there is a pitch that he can’t handle. He’s a real joy to watch each and every at bat. I see what I think is a hole in his swing (looks like a shallow “U” instead of a straight line thru the strike zone) but it does not appear to be affecting anything. Again, I’m a casual observer so maybe I’m seeing something that’s not there. Hope he keeps up the excellent approaches each AB. On thing that struck me this week is just how fast the ball comes off the bat of Correa, Tucker and Rasmus. Even White and Altuve to an extent. Tucker is an extra base machine. He hits the ball so hard that it’s on the way to the wall unless someone can get in front of it. Fun to watch. Correa sure looks mature up there. It will be interesting to see how he matures this year now that the book is out on him and pitchers are trying to adjust. Castro looks lost at the plate as does Gomez but to a lesser extent. Hopefully it’s just first week settling in.
Baserunning: This was the most aggravating part of the week for me. The SB’s are great for moving into scoring position and pressuring the pitcher and infielders. Even a CS is fine as that is a part of an aggressive team on the base paths but the baserunning blunders are a killer. I’m looking at you, Altuve. Get caught stealing second. That’s fine. Don’t get caught leaning the wrong way or counting dandelions just off the dirt. Bleh.
Defense: Castro looks much improved behind the dish. Good to see him throw out some baserunners. Likewise, the OF D looks as good as advertised. Throws to 1B from third, short and 2B have been sometimes erratic but White (and Gonzalez on the first day) have done a good job digging stuff out of the dirt or applying swing tags when they are pulled off the base. Every time I see that though, I think the rotator cuff is in serious peril.
Regarding AL Player of the Week, Tyler White is a clear frontrunner for position players and appears to have had a superior week to all AL pitchers. I hope he gets the accolade.
RK Player Team Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI▼ BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
1 Donaldson, J
TOR 3B 7 29 8 9 1 0 4 9 2 11 0 0 .310 .355 .759 1.113
1 White, T
HOU 1B 6 18 3 10 2 0 3 9 2 4 0 0 .556 .591 1.167 1.758
3 Castro, S
NYY 2B 5 20 3 9 2 0 2 8 1 2 0 0 .450 .476 .850 1.326
3 Holt, B
BOS LF 4 17 4 7 2 0 2 8 1 4 0 0 .412 .444 .882 1.327
5 Cano, R
SEA 2B 6 25 4 6 1 0 4 7 2 5 0 0 .240 .296 .760 1.056
RK Player Team W L ERA▲ G GS SV SVO IP H R ER HR BB SO AVG WHIP
1 Estrada, M
TOR 1 0 0.00 1 1 0 0 7.0 5 0 0 0 2 8 .200 1.00
1 Kennedy, I
KC 1 0 0.00 1 1 0 0 6.2 5 0 0 0 1 7 .208 0.90
1 Latos, M
CWS 1 0 0.00 1 1 0 0 6.0 1 0 0 0 1 2 .050 0.33
1 Zimmermann, J
DET 1 0 0.00 1 1 0 0 7.0 2 0 0 0 3 3 .095 0.71
5 Hernandez, F
SEA 0 1 0.69 2 2 0 0 13.0 4 3 1 0 7 16 .089 0.85
