Opening Day is but a day away!
This is one of the most exciting weeks of the year for a baseball fan, even if your team doesn’t seem to be in it, every fan will still hope that their team will compete. And of course, just be glad to see them back playing the games. There is always an unreasonable hope in the back of your brain, an unruly optimism that must occur to tune in from the very beginning. If you really like baseball, you have been starved of it for months now. Like six damn months! Especially if you didn’t tune into Spring Training. I must admit, I didn’t.
For an aging fan, sometimes you have to save your enthusiasm for the real games. And that’s what I have been doing. Sure I glanced at a game or two briefly, saw some highlights here and there. But for the most part I haven’t seen real MLB baseball in six months! Jeez.
Hope springs anew in most springs, and I hope that it does for you. I honestly don’t know what to expect from this team. I could see them finishing in last place. Or even first! If we get very lucky. But I think they will probably be a lot like last season. Hopefully a little better.
I’ve already written at length how the Cubs are the team to beat… and about how the Brewers could also mysteriously win the division again through gestalt, that is their whole is greater than the sum of their parts. Or maybe Eli de la Cruz will put the whole Reds team on his back this year and go off the charts. It is not inconceivable that the Pirates will be a pain in the ass too because of their robust starting rotation. But it should most likely be the Cubs, or the Brewers again this season.
The Cardinals are in “reset” mode but don’t appear to be a hell of a lot different from last season. Kittredge is gone but another veteran, Maton is here. There is probably not as much difference in that as you might think. We still don’t know if Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, Masyn Winn, or Victor Scott II can hit. We can rest assured that Willson Contreras, Lars Nootbaar, Ivan Herrera, and Brendan Donovan can. The DH is still the DH, not the best hitter on your team (unless you’re the Dodgers).
Time to talk about Spring Training stats again, just for fun. Last week I detailed some surprise pitching performances and who was getting the most innings in Spring Training. This time I will talk more about hitters, but also will talk about some of the most surprising pitching performances…
Spring Training Surprises
- Victor Scott II was the breakout offensive player of the spring. He didn’t look super great on the basepaths or on defense from some of the comments I’ve read here, but there is no denying that he had a magical spring on offense. So magical in fact that the Cardinals thought that the forced his way onto the team. This is pretty normal for them to bring the best spring training hitter to opening day, especially since the same player made the team last year. It might not make the most sense but Cardinals are going to Cardinal. He hit as many home runs as the power hitting Luken Baker (who also made the team!) but also stole bases and runs much faster. And also is not a bench player. He is the starting center fielder until further notice. I guess that’s the power of spring training.
- Michael Siani had the same amount of playing time as VSII, but his OPS was .319. Even by Siani standards this was a bit surprisingly awful. But I am not writing about Siani in this #2 spot. I am writing about Masyn Winn, who also had the same amount of playing time but hit EVEN WORSE than Michael Siani. Yes Masyn Winn was that bad at hitting that he hit worse than the worst version of Michael Siani. Now that qualifies as outlandishly awful hitting (but just remember, spring training is whatever). I just hope that Masyn Winn is not injured, or something?? This is surprising because I was hoping that Winn would have a breakout season, but I suppose a sophomore slump is more likely. Hopefully he can at least hit better than he did this spring.
- Willson Contreras showed up a buff first baseman. Yes, a real first baseman not some guy learning a new position, as was expected by many. But the surprising part was how different he looks now with longer hair and chunked up. He is still hitting like he was last year, on fire.
- Burleson was more power than batting average this spring. Maybe not so surprising if he was purposely working on his power, though. His slugging went up, batting average down.
- We have talked mostly about how Masyn Winn not hitting this spring, and maybe Jordan Walker (or Nolan Gorman) but few have talked about Brendan Donovan not hitting. It’s spring training but still, a little bit of a surprise. But I cannot fail to mention Nolan Arenado not hitting for most of the spring, if I’m talking about spring surprises. This is less surprising that Donovan’s performance, but just going throw it in here that Arenado bat like a pitcher this spring training (except for the game vs the Redbirds).
- Sonny Gray had a surprise spring training, and it wasn’t the strikeouts. He still struck mfers out. But when he didn’t they destroyed him. His 12.56 ERA might be the biggest surprise and concern of spring training. Many feel that an injury may be lurking with a WHIP north of 2 and a batting average against of .359. DOOM (or maybe he was just unlucky)
- JoJo Romero struck out 15 batter in 9 innings! talk about striking mfers out
- Steven Matz and Michael McGreevy both looked really really good in spring training but are not in the starting five, oddly enough making it doubly surprising. Spring Training results do not always get rewarded, but sometimes they do. Which makes spring training all the more maddening. But this is a pleasant surprise: McGreevy looked even better than anyone could ever expect, and Steven Matz may not be broken anymore with a 2.29 ERA over his starter’s workload spanning 5 games. Note: McGreevy walked zero batters this spring.
- In one of the biggest spring training surprises, Matthew Liberatore did pitch his way into the starting rotation. Batters only hit .158 against him in his 6 games pitched (same innings count as McGreevy: 16.2). Liberatore somehow outdid McGreevy and Matz in one sense: he only gave up 9 hits. Still, it is surprising McGreevy didn’t get the nod over Liberatore if you haven’t been paying attention. He seemed like a strong possibility after pitching well at MLB level in 2024. That said, ultimately this is even better as McGreevy surely will make his way into the rotation sooner or later this season.
- One last spring training surprise: Roycroft seems nearly unhittable now. He did give up a home run though. A zero ERA always looks good coming out of spring training, even if the home run got charged to another guy. People don’t usually look that up.
Bold Predictions
Ok, it’s time to break out your crystal balls, divining rods, tea leaves, i ching for the BOLDEST predictions for 2025. Or just have some fun with it and make outlandish claims about what will happen in this crazy year of whatever. Throw your thoughts out into the wild blue yonder and ponder what may happen in this strange timeline. Earthlings, do your best to make it all not make sense.
I am rolling a six sided die to see how many bold predictions I must envision. And wow, I just rolled a 6! 6 visions coming right up…
- Masyn Winn is not injured and will play all season and hit .239
- Willson Contreras hits 46 home runs
- Eric Fedde is the ace of the staff
- Cardinals first place by 5+ games
Cardinals finish in last place and Marmol gets fired. ok that seems too real- Rally Rabbit
Let’s hear your wildest predictions, loftiest dreams, cursed visions, what have you.
Album Hall of Fame
Today I induct St Louis’ own bizarre rock band named after a cryptid, Yowie, and their last album ‘Synchromysticism’. Seeing them play a place called Foam and crashing out at the drummer’s house was one of my favorite St Louis moments, where I bought their vinyl record copy of the music. It comes with a cool poster and a fun splattered paint look purple vinyl. They have one of the best drummers on the planet, so it’s probably worth hearing just for that. But they also have some of the weirdest guitar playing you could ever hear. Some will think it’s more noise than music, but it has complex structures inherent in its diligently crafted songforms. Music like this is almost impossible to learn and takes so much practice that most would never dare to do it.
It is probably most important to talk about this music as a structural entity, with interlocking parts. A power trio by nature, it has one guitarist playing like he’s the bassist, and the other guitarist plucking and playing away at will most of the notes on the fretboard in the most absurdly comical combinations of absurdity. The drums are constantly shifting and changing focus, at a surgical level that is nothing less than freaky. If you weren’t turned on by the album posted above, at least give this live video performance a chance. It is worth it just to see how much fun the crowd is having, vibing to this weirdo musical groove and technical interplay. St Louis has some really amazing and even mindboggling underground punk/rock/metal bands.
Ok I will be back at ya this Saturday with my first game recap of 2025!
howl out
