Sport Thoughts

The MLB second round has come to a close. The Division Series could be summed up with two words: multiple upsets. For the first time in MLB playoff history, two teams who won 100 or more games were swept at the same time. The 90 win Texas Rangers upset the 101 win Baltimore Orioles and the 84 win Diamondbacks upset the 100 win LA Dodgers. Both series felt like total mismatches. The Rangers offense dominated with clutch home runs from Corey Seager, Mitch Garver and Adolis Garcia. The starting pitching from Nathan Eovaldi was at an elite level. The Orioles starting pitching struggled deeply and their offense went cold in games one and three. The Texas Rangers Vs Baltimore Orioles series could be best described as a veteran caliber team out-slugging and out-pitching a young team on the rise. The Arizona Diamondbacks Vs LA Dodgers series could be described as the complete opposite. The Dodgers were the veteran team, who were competely out-played and out-hustled by the up and coming Dbacks....

The playoff format of the MLB has evolved drastically over last the three years. In 2020, the MLB playoffs saw the introduction of the of best of three Wild Card series. All playoff teams played a first round series at the time. A year later, MLB brought back the one game Wild Card matchup. It was a matchup that saw the most negative criticism. The best of three Wild Card series was brought back last year but with a major difference. A change was made where the best two division winners receive a first round bye. The first round bye would negativily impact both National League 1 and 2 Seeds. The 111 win LA Dodgers were upset by the 89 win San Diego Padres and the 101 win Atlanta Braves were upset by the Philadelphia Phillies. Fast forward to 2023 and it appears to be a deja vu scenario. The 101 win Baltimore Orioles and 100 win LA Dodgers are currently down 0-2 in their respective Division Series. The underdog 90 win Texas Rangers and 84 win Arizona Diamondbacks have a chance to sweep ...

The MLB 2023 playoffs has entered the second round. The remaining playoff matchups are all interesting and fairly even matched. The Division Series matchups include the Baltimore Orioles vs the Texas Rangers, the Minnesota Twins vs the Houston Astros, the Philadelphia Phillies vs the Atlanta Braves and the Arizona Diamondbacks vs the LA Dodgers. Each series will have it’s key X-factors. The Texas Rangers have several veteran players with playoff experience, including shortstop Corey Seager, second baseman Marcus Semien and starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi. This veter caliber team will go up against a young and upcoming team, led by catcher Adley Rutschman, third baseman Gunner Henderson and outfielder Cedric Mullens. Playoff experience and veteran leadership could play huge roles in this playoff series. The Minnesota Twins will face the Houston Astros for the first time since the 2020 playoffs. Both teams look very different since that timeframe. The Houston Astros will be heavily favor...

The 2023 MLB season is down to a month and a half left. The fight for playoff contention continues each for the teams still in the race. Baseball is known as a major sport that does not have a salary cap. The New York Mets, New York Yankees and San Diego Padres have the three largest payrolls in the entire MLB. If the MLB Season were to end today, all three high salary teams would miss the playoffs. The New York Mets waived the white flag to begin the month of August with a payroll of $343,809,689. The Mets payroll is the most expensive roster in MLB history. That roster prior to the trade deadline was 5.5 games back from a playoff spot and 5 games under .500. The New York Mets are now 12 games under .500 and 8.5 games back of a wild card. The New York Yankees have a payroll of $279,372,803. That large payroll has them in last place in the AL East division, 2 games over .500 and 5 games back of the last wild card spot. The San Diego Padre’s payroll is slightly lower at $252,800,149. En...

The MLB Trade deadline began the month of August. Several MLB teams made big and small moves at the dradline. Several of these trades were winning moves. There were still several losers at the dradline. The Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins were losers of the American League. The Baltimore Orioles needed to improve their starting pitching rotation and bullpen. The Orioles traded for strugglings starting pitcher Jack Flaherty and disappointing reliever Shintaro Fujinami. The Boston Red Sox also needed to upgrade their pitching staff. Their only trade dewdline move was acquiring infielder Luis Urias. The New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins needed to improve their starting lineups. Both teams would do the exact opposite by trading for relief pitchers Keynan Middleton and Dylan Floro. None of these trade move the needle for these American League teams. The New York Mets and St Lous Cardinals were losers of the National League. Both teams were sellers ...

The second half of the MLB season begins tomorrow. The post All Star break is always crunch time for contending baseball teams. Each game has alot of meaning to the teams in the playoff hunt. This season will mark the second year that 12 total teams make the MLB Playoffs. 2020 was the first year of the expanded playoff format. Since 2020 the number of playoff teams have gone from 14 to 10 to 12 teams. Several MLB teams are in the midst of playoff droughts. These long droughts date back to the late 2010s or earlier. The Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds made the playoffs in the shortened 2020 season but have not reached the playoffs in a full season since 2003 and 2013. The Texas Rangers and Balitimore Orioles have not reached the playoffs since the 2016 season. The Arizona Diamondback’s playoff drought dates back to the 2017 season. Long story short, these contending MLB treams have playoff droughts at stake. Every year there are teams such as the Houston Astros, New York Yankees, Atla...

The MLB 2023 season is nearing the Allstar break. There are several MLB teams in unfamiliar territory. There are teams like The Tampa Bay Rays and the Atlanta Braves, who have lived up to expectations. The current MLB standings are somewhat shocking. Teams like the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Miami Marlins, Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks are the biggest surprise teams. They were all not projected to be contenders. Teams like the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and LA Dodgers were not predicted to struggle. The more games played, the bigger the sample size for each MLB team. The questions that remain is if the disappointing teams can get hot and if the surprise teams can carry their momentum. Numbers don’t lie and neither does the standing. Will these unexpected contenders make moves at the trade deadline? Only time will tell as the Allstar break approaches. The league will have a better idea and understanding onc...