MLB: Opening Day

Today is opening day for MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL and I still get excited about the very first day of the official season and almost every fan has hope that their team will actually have an above average season and can make some noise and get into the playoffs somehow and perhaps win it all.

Of course, if you are NEW YORK METS fan like myself; there has been way too many hopeful season than actual productive seasons.

Nevertheless, as a whole; I still get excited about Opening Day for the whole sport and look forward to what seems to be setting up as an amazing season.

My favorite team now has an owner that spends ungodly amounts of money and that bodes well for the organization, but you can't win a championship. What's important is to build the organization the right way from the bottom up and as Mets fans; we definitely see the efforts going into doing that.

The problem is, that we are so jaded at this point; that every bad thing that happens - it's the "same old Mets" mantra.

Case in point, the best pitcher on the planet and our ace has a stress reaction to the shoulder and will be out a couple of months; so there's that.

A few other nagging injuries to other players that is already making the new manager having to scramble a bit already, but he's been around the game for many years; so we have confidence in Buck.

This is not a Mets post, but needed to make sure that the readers know who is the baseball team that I've been rooting for; most of my life.

One of my favorite baseball writers, broadcaster and contributor in national baseball shows - KEN ROSENTHAL - now writing for The Athletic has TEN STORYLINES for the upcoming MLB Season that I would like to give my thoughts on:

One important thing Ken points out is that there was an abbreviated spring training, because of the lockout.

My take on that is that as a fan, we are elated to have a full season scheduled unless something unforeseen happens; this season will finally be a true major league season without all the pandemic albatross.

Injuries, will always be part of every sport. It goes with the territory and it is what it is. Unfortunately, there are teams that just can't stay healthy to the point that it just hinders their progress and; yes as a Mets fan, I can attest to that.

Guess what? We are already trending towards that injury bug type season - ALREADY!

ONE and TWO

Of course, Ken's first storylines that he is curious of the ten are about the injuries and how it will playout because of the the minimal time players had with a shortened Spring Training.

That then lead to my favorite team the New York Mets and with their owner in full swing, hiring a new Manager, General Manager and other big organizational moves, spending a shitload of money to sign some key players this offseason and what is the main plot to this first storyline? INJURIES. Particularly, our ace's injury. Get well soon Jake, WE NEED YA!!!

THREE

Then the Carlos Correa signing. Not to the Astros, not to the Yankees; but the TWINS! The Minnesota Twins??? They rarely spend the big bucks to sign players much less keep their own superstars. They are what is considered a small market team, so their revenue is usually not in the upper echelon; like the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox. That is definitely going to be interesting to see him in the same lineup as Buxton, Kepler and Sano. Correa is also a defensive beast!

FOUR

The World Champion Atlanta Braves (yes, it pains me to write that) did not resign the heart of their team Freddie Freeman, who now is a Dodger (WOW, that team has been relentless putting that juggernaut together), but they traded for a hometown kid, Matt Olson who came from the Oakland A's who basically had a fire sale and I believe they are still trying to get rid of more guys. Yes, sad to say; small market team. Whether, you are a Braves fan or not; it will be an interesting storyline on how much of a difference will Matt make opposed to Freddie. Not in playing the game, but in leadership and the intangibles that someone like Freeman who grew up in the organization brought to the table.

FIVE

The Toronto Blue Jays and the make up of that team is hard to argue with the many prognosticators who are choosing them to win it all. They are the cream of the crop or at the very least in the top 3 tier of teams - hands down. Of course, they have to prove it; but they had an excellent season in 2021 and they looked primed to have a monster season in 2022 with the addition of some key pitching, another year of VLAD and that core of young players on the upswing will be fun to watch.

SIX

The Giants. These guys won over 100 games last season. They came out of no where and since they weren't expected to do much and ended up in the playoffs; not winning it all did not mean much, because the season they had meant A LOT! Well, now it's time to prove that it wasn't a fluke and the consensus of course, is that they won't come close to what they did last year. I believe that any organization that finds a formula that works and do not deviate from that formula and it works, they continue to thrive. Let's not forget, that the San Francisco Giants won a few world championships not too long ago. They had only been a bad team for a few years transitionally, because they didn't stay bad for too long.

SEVEN

OMG, the Anaheim Angels. One of the most perplexing teams in the league. Let me just say, that is going to be excruciation watching Thor; pitching for them this season. But that has been the Achilles heel of this team, their pitching has been disastrous and the injuries has just debilitated that franchise. If you are a true MLB fan, then you know this team has frickin Otani, Rendon and future Hall of Famer Mike Trout on this team; but Trout and Rendon have dealt with the injury bug lately as well. If those guys can stay healthy, Otani can have another amazing season like he did last year and they can get above average pitching, this team can be scary; but they will have too many other teams to battle that are just a lot healthier and in a much better position to compete a full season.

EIGHT

The rookie races. I personally don't remember this many teams adding their top prospects to their roster to begin a season.

None of them are Mets, but I am looking forward to seeing J Rod of the Mariners, Baz of the Rays, Torkelson of the Tigers, Witt, Jr. for the Royals and a few others notable and potential superstars add some much need excitement to a sport that gets criticized for being too slow and way too long in game play and season.

NINE

Surprise teams. Last year, the San Francisco Giants were the surprise team of 2021. I don't believe any other team came close. Perhaps, a handful of surprise teams that disappointed like the Mets; but 107 wins for a team that wasn't considered to win many games at all? Hands down, the Giant was a shocking team. This year, the Tigers are getting a lot of mentions and it's understandable. They had a decent season last year and the talk was that they were a couple of years away from making any noise, but they surprised many with their play in 2022 and they fortified their team with Javy Baez (yup Mets lost another one), Torkelson and a few other guys that are going to bring the heat over at Motown. I'm on board with the Tigers making a push for post season this year.

TEN

Cheating. Yup cheating. Sign stealing and pitchers doctoring the balls in particular. MLB and the MLB Players Association made this a talking point during negotiations, so it's a work in progress; but there is some serious vigilance going on. Thank the Astros' team whose tainted World Series win a few years ago created this drama. Either way, they must keep the game's reputation in tact and not have any potential long-term and damaging situations like these. MLB got through the steroid era, so they are more capable of rectifying these type of situations a lot swifter. It will be interesting to watch the paranoia.

PLAY BALL!!!

I will be sharing this HIVE post, using LISTNERDS

SOURCES:

WIKIPEDIA

THE ATHLETIC

MLB.COM

I'm an upgraded member and use the following services:

CANVA.COM

IMGBIN.COM