Recently my family took me to Colorado. That’s a high elevation, especially when my home in Eastern NC is at 4 feet above sea level. It’s also a high elevation when you factor that they love to hike and I, well, tend to take after Gimli in Lord of the Rings while they are built and move like Legolas. The first couple of days were a struggle.
After a week a magical thing happened. We went on the “big one” where I said it was fine to do it, last day of the trip, suck it up Kelder. The miracle was that I had finally found my wind at the end of the trip. Wasn’t even out of breath, kept up, even did a cool rock scramble, and didn’t feel like I was dying. Kind of a second half surge.
In honor of myself, since I am the main character, let’s look at some big names from the preseason with little games so far. Do they have a chance to salvage their season in the last two months?
Cody Bellinger fooled me. I thought last year was repeatable. I also thought he would have more than five steals at this point, and also didn’t think he would break a finger. Now he’s coming back soon; will the numbers?
Good luck predicting this guy. He’s an extremely streaky player. Even in his MVP season in 2019 his numbers were carried by an elite first half. The second half was good but not special. This year, he hasn’t ever locked in and I’m not sure he will. Nine HR and 5 steals in a pretty bad lineup so far and he only has zero HR the past month. I’d sell him to a low team on his theoretical potential but I have no hope for him the rest of the season.
Matt Olson had his career year last year, but nobody expected a .222 average and only 13 dingers. Atlanta is having a first percentile season with bad luck, his lineup support has cratered and Ozzie Albies is now out and replaced with Whit Merrifield, and it’s time to reevaluate. Olson is going to have a career average around .250, but never hit that number. It’ll be either .289 or .222. You need to hold him if you got him, trade for him if you’re low in the standings. The upside is still there and he could slay queen for a ten HR month,
Nolan Arenado is a guy I’ve been fading for years and it’s finally paying off. Persistence, people. That cool Statcast metric shows he has a long, slow swing. That doesn’t seem good. His power is gone, and is only at a .702 OPS. I’m out on Arenado and you should be too. He’s not coming back this season, or probably ever.
I would love to see Brett Baty moved at the trade deadline. Just saying.
I’m still in on Jordan Westburg. This is just a younger guy with a lot of talent going through a little slump. He’s either tired or working through adjustments. He’s going to be a fine player for a long time. Yes, even in August. Hold on to this guy.
Royce Lewis has had a disastrous injury season. I’m sure a lot of you who spent a top five round pick on him have sworn him off and for good reason. Just remember when he’s healthy he’s a nuclear bomb. Imagine him on your team, healthy for a month. That’s ten HR folks and could be more. This is the guy to buy from his frustrated owner. Just tell him to never hustle.
Austin Riley and his hopefully better end of season is on pause. Paternity leave is the reason. If he’s yawning on the bases or suddenly and irrationally loses his temper at a batboy don’t worry, just sleep deprivation.
My two preseason sleepers continue their snail’s pace to return. The Red Sox sorely need what Triston Casas can provide, and he may possibly have turned a corner in his recovery. I would not expect him to be back until September but I’m not a doctor and am just guessing. Josh Jung is finally in batting practice, soon to rehab. Maybe, just maybe, the long recovery was just caution and he’ll jump right back into hitting .400? Too much to ask?
Not much else by way of news or updates. I’ll keep my eyes to the screen to try to give news.
Thanks for reading and have a great week.
