Matt Moore (5-0; 1.13 ERA) looks like the AL Cy Young of April. He's gotten great help from the Rays lineup (5.6 Runs Per Game), but has showed that he hasn't needed it. The MLB is a pitchers league, and the AL is stacked with pitchers with good starts. Clay Buchholz also has a 5-0 record and do you think he'll win the Cy? No. Yu Darvish, Felix Hernandez, CC Sabathia, R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, and other pitchers all pitch in the AL. Good starts or not, all these pitchers have good track records and could easily get hot and win the Cy.
Also, rookies (or sophmores) are prone to go through cold streaks. Stephen Strasburg hasn't been on fire, and even though Moore has, he still has 5 months to fail. Matt Harvey has the same case. Both Matts may have had just good Aprils. There is some backing to having Moore win the Cy Young. In 39 games (37 starts), Moore has a 1.27 WHIP, which is very impressive. And he already has pitched over 200 Innings (218.2 IP). Hitters have had plenty of time to adjust to Moore. So, he may just win it.
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Blue Jays shortstop, Jose Reyes, injured himself Friday night leaving himself with a severe ankle sprain. (For More Info visit http://coverthebases.weebly.com/1/post/2013/04/ss-reyes-out-1-3-months-with-severe-ankle-sprain.html) But, the question is, what does this mean for the Blue Jays and the AL East as a whole?
Well, take this into consideration, Jose Reyes has a .297 career average. He also gets into scoring postion a lot with 415 stolen bases in his career. So, if the Blue Jays need 4 runs to win a game, and Reyes gets 2 hits, has 2 stolen bases, and 2 runs, the Jays have gotten half the run support they'll need to win their games. On Saturday, the Jays started Munenori Kawasaki at shortstop, who only has 190 career major league at bats. Kawasaki, who was with the Mariners last year, is 2-4 in stolen base attempts in his career. In 61 games, Kawasaki was 20-104 (.192 avg). He was called up from AAA for Reyes' injury because of his glove work. The Blue Jays' run production will almost positively be diminished without Reyes. So, what does this mean for the AL East race? It may be early to tell, but Reyes will be out for up to three months. And by that time, it will be July. Reyes could be a huge factor in how the AL East race could be played out. The Yankees, Rays, Orioles, and Red Sox will fare well from Reyes' injury. The teams with the bigger ballparks will be happier. Why? Reyes isn't a home run hitter. He is a double and triple hitter. If you have a big ballpark, it would be easier for Reyes to get all the way to second or third. Reyes is a hard-working, very fun player to watch. I'll miss watching him. Chris Davis, the player everyone has been talking about. After becoming the 4th player in ML history to hit homers in each of his first four games (Mays, McGwire, N, Cruz), the question is, will he be able to keep this up? Before I tell you my opinion, listen to these facts.
Chris Davis has a career .477 slugging percentage. Before you tell me that is low, Davis would rank 37th among all active player in the Major Leagues, if he was eligible (3000 PA). He would be ahead of Andre Ethier, Adrian Beltre, Brian McCann, Joe Mauer, and Jayson Werth, just to name a few. He also has hit 25+ HR before. In fact, he has a 162 game average of 30 homers. Last year, he had a very quiet, underrated season. He hit 33 HR and had 85 RBI in only 139 games. His slugging percentage was over .500 (.501) and he was able to show off his power. And, the Orioles will help get him up to bat. As a team, the Orioles have averaged 7.25 runs per game, with 11.75 hits per game. This will put runners on base for Davis and get him more RBI and RBI opportunity. The trick is, if you feed your power hitter, he will eat. Expect Davis to have large RBI numbers this year. If I was to predict how Davis will do this season, I think he'll put up a .270/.310/.540 line with 47 HR and 113 RBI. But, don't count on it. He still is young and possibly unpredictable. But, if everything goes his and the O's way, he could be sitting atop the AL MVP voting. I know this may be a little late, but the games haven't started. My season predictions are all 100% opinionated. You could think the exact opposite as me and still be right. But, after taking good looks at all 30 MLB teams since the season ended in October,this is who I feel will win the awards and divisions. So, let's get on with the predictions, shall we?
NL: NL East: 1. Nationals 95-67 2. Braves 92-70 (WC) 3. Phillies 88-74 (WC) 4. Mets 75-87 5. Marlins 68-94 NL Central: 1. Reds 93-69 2. Cardinals 87-75 3. Pirates 85-77 4. Brewers 79-83 5. Cubs 70-92 NL West: 1. Dodgers 91-71 2. Giants 87-75 3. Padres 75-87 4. D-Backs 70-93 5. Rockies 65-98 NL WILD CARD PHILLIES over Braves NL DIVISIONAL REDS over Phillies NATIONALS over Dodgers NL CHAMPIONSHIP NATIONALS over Reds NL CY YOUNG: Cole Hamels (PHI) 21-10, 2.78 ERA, 282 Ks, 230 2/3 IP NL MVP: Bryce Harper (WSH) .325 avg, 27 HR, 93 RBI NL ROY: Ryu Hyun-jin (LAD) 13-7, 3.20 ERA, 176 Ks, 197 IP Many people probably will disagree with my rankings, thinking that the other NL Wild Card will come from the NL West. The reason I believe that the Phillies will win the 2nd Wild Card is because of the offseason additions. They attacked the 8th Inning Bullpen Issue with a low-cost Mike Adams. They also acquired Ben Revere, the speedy Center Fielder from Minnesota. I also think Cole Hamels could out-duel Tim Hudson in a 1-game format. I also believe that Madison Bumgarner is a flat-out fluke and that Tim Lincecum will never get back to old form. The Giants, with the fewest Home Runs last year, could be in some trouble. I really feel that the Nationals are flat out the most complete team in baseball. Therefore, I picked them to win the NL. They have the best mix of youth and age to build the perfect clubhouse chemistry. High expectations don't always turn into wins though, so I feel the Reds could also win the NL. AL: AL East: 1. Blue Jays 91-71 2. Orioles 90-72 (WC) 3. Yankees 88-74 4. Rays 86-76 5. Red Sox 82-80 AL Central: 1. Tigers 93-69 2. White Sox 87-75 3. Indians 83-79 4. Royals 75-87 5. Twins 63-99 AL West: 1. Angels 92-70 2. Rangers 90-72 (WC) 3. A's 86-76 4. Mariners 72-90 5. Astros 60-102 AL WILD CARD RANGERS over Orioles AL DIVISIONAL ANGELS over Blue Jays TIGERS over Rangers AL CHAMPIONSHIP ANGELS over Tigers AL CY YOUNG: Justin Verlander (DET) 23-7, 2.59 ERA, 297 Ks, 235 IP AL MVP: Jose Bautista (TOR) .275 avg, 46 HR, 117 RBI AL ROY: Mike Olt (TEX) .275 avg, 13 HR, 66 RBI The AL is a very well-balanced league. There are no powerhouses, but there aren't that many laggers. That made it the hardest to predict. The AL East, could go in any direction, but I really like the Blue Jays' chances to win it this year. I put the Orioles second because of the fact that they are very young and have great chemistry. The Angels will rebound from last season and use their starstruck lineup to get far into the playoffs. WORLD SERIES NATIONALS over Angels The Nats are the best team, period. That's why I think they'll win the 2013 World Series. |