The other day, we gave you our picks for how the American League and National League standings might look at the end of the year, along with our choices for playoffs, and some award predictions.
Against all logic, we now have some more. And yes, we realize that some teams have already played two games.
AL Manager of the Year: John Schneider. I have the Jays winning the East -- and in fact, getting to the World Series -- so it stands to reason that Schneider wins this award, as he'll be in his first full year as manager.
NL Manager of the Year: Oliver Marmol. The Cards seem like a lock in the Central. Marmol didn't get a lot of attention for directing the Cards to the postseason in his first season in the dugout, but he'll be rewarded this time.
First AL manager fired: Brandon Hyde. I picked the O's to take a step back after a big leap forward in 2022, and while it may not be fair, Hyde could pay the price for his regression.
First NL manager fired: Bud Black. Again, fairness has little do with this. The Rockies aren't very good, and given the division, won't be competitive for a while. They seem headed for their fifth straight losing season, and Black is the sacrificial lamb.
Most surprising team: Pittsburgh. Finally, some light at the end of the tunnel. I don't see the Pirates contending for a wild card spot, but anything close to a break-even season would constitute a rousing success.
Most disappointing team: Texas. The Rangers have spent a boatload over the last two years to bring in stars (Corey Seager, Jacob deGrom, Marcus Semien) but they seem a long way from being a factor in the AL West.
Shohei Ohtani stays with the Angels all season, then leaves as a free agent. Already, there is talk of Ohtani being the most sought-after player ever at the trade deadline, but owner Arte Moreno is on record as saying he won't trade Ohtani if the Angels are in contention. I expect them to be in the mix and qualify for a wild card, so I think he finishes out the year. But after that...
Aaron Judge doesn't match or top his home run total of a year ago. That doesn't mean Judge is going to be a disappointment in the first year of his nine-year, $360-million deal. But hitting 62 (or more) homers is hard, which is why no one had ever done it in the AL until last season.
Player the Red Sox could trade at the deadline: Alex Verdugo. I have the Red Sox hanging around .500 for the season, and it's possible they could be on the periphery of the playoff race. Still, as last year demonstrated, Chaim Bloom can work in mysterious ways when it comes to the deadline, and I see Verdugo as a tradable commodity. He's under control until the end of 2024, and the Sox may decide to move him while there's still some value attached to him.
Player who could make a surprise impact on the major league roster: Enmanuel Valdez. Like a lot of people, including some decision-makers in the Red Sox organization, I'm not sure where Valdez fits into the future positionally. He's suspect at second base and still learning as an outfielder. But I figure that, given his age, Justin Turner will deal with a nagging injury or two over the course of the year and could see Valdez sliding into the DH spot and doing some damage.
Most welcome rule change: The pitch clock. Sure, there will be some early-season hiccups, but eventually, everyone will adjust and the games will be completed at a far brisker pace and thus, be more enjoyable. And for those foolishly pointing to the 3:10 TOG for the season opener Thursday: there were 19 blasted runs scored! A year ago, that game would have taken almost four hours to compete. And even at 3:10, that was a minute shorter than the average Red Sox game from a year ago.
Most unwelcome rule change: The pickoff limit. I'm all for the return of athleticism and having the stolen base become a real weapon again. But I worry that it's ripe for teams to game the system and turn games into uncontested track meets.
There will be more (and longer) rain delays. This will be the unintended result of the more balanced schedule. With so many interleague games -- more than doubling from 20 to 46 -- it means more games will feature visiting teams making their only visit of the season to a particular city. In the last, with so many intra-division games, teams had the luxury of knowing that the visiting team would return once or twice more, making it far easier to reschedule games who being threatened by bad weather. Not anymore. Now, 53 of the 81 home games will be played against teams making one trip -- and one trip only -- to that particular city. Bring a book and a poncho.
Geographic power shift: The two toughest divisions in the game are the AL East and NL East, with three teams in each division qualifying for the postseason last year. All six could make it again this year and it wouldn't surprise anyone. Then, the AL West has the defending champs (Houston) and another team that looks to be capable of 90+ wins (Seattle). Maybe LA has improved. In the NL West, it seems a given that both the Dodgers and Padres will reach the playoffs. But the two Central divisions are testaments to mediocrity. Cleveland and St. Louis could repeat, but it's hard to see another postseason entrant coming from either the AL Central or NL Central.
___________________________
Think it's just hitters and pitchers who have to adjust to the new pitch clock? Think again.
Baseball broadcasters everywhere -- on TV and radio -- are finding a new rhythm to their work.
In the past, announcers had plenty of time to inject an anecdote or tell a brief short to supply some background to their listeners. But already, through spring training and the first week of the season, the pitch clock has required them to be more economical with their words. There's far less time between pitches, so opportunities to wander a bit verbally or go slightly off-topic are virtually eliminated.
Now, broadcasters have to keep one eye on the clock and another on the action.
"As we followed it happening in the minor leagues, we knew it would be good for the game,'' said Will Flemming, part of the Red Sox' radio team on the WEEI Radio network, "and I heard from people down there that you have to broadcast differently. (But even knowing that), it's shocked me how dramatically different it's been. And selfishly, I'm not sure it's going to make the job as fun. I think, for the game, it's a wonderful thing. But for what we do, the joy of it, the fun of it, the art of it, is everything that comes between the pitches. And there's much less time to do that. Sometimes, it feels a little bit more like covering a basketball game than a baseball game.
"Having said that, after a month of spring training, you learn to adjust and you learn to be more efficient in story-telling. And you wait for foul balls to go into the seats before you go into anything a little bit longer. From our perspective, I think the one thing I worry about the most is not the loss of stories, necessarily; it's the lack of ability to converse with your partner. Which, with Joe (Castiglione) and Lou (Merloni), is the favorite thing about our broadcast. -- the ability to go back and forth. Between pitches, by the time you've set someone up (to make a point), the next pitch is on the way.''
To date, Flemming has tried to almost ignore the pitch clock, or specifically referencing it.
"In the same way that I don't try to cram in advance statistics into a broadcast, I don't think people listening at home want to hear the countdown of the pitch clock,'' said Flemming. "So, accordingly, I don't want to look at it because I might be tempted to talk about it all the time. So it hasn't been a distraction in that way.''
Flemming has been broadcasting baseball -- in the minors and majors -- for a decade and has developed his own internal clock. He now finds that has to be completely reset.
"You develop a pacing after a while,'' he said. "So one of the things that's going to be a work in progress is getting everything in that you want, but at the same time, not talking too much. The crowd is the soundtrack of a lot of these big moments, and you do need to lay out and let that happen. There's less time to do that. You run the risk of having it be a little bit more like a television call on radio, blending those two things. We can all do that and make that adjustment, but with storytelling and conversations, we're just going to have to find different ways to do that. That's the ongoing challenge.''
Having worked the last few years with Castiglione, the two have developed a natural chemistry in which they can communicate non-verbally. But working with Merloni is new to the broadcasts and Flemming worries that the former Sox infielder's contributions could get lost.
"That's a different dynamic,'' said Flemming, "because he's in here to analyze plays and pitches and sequences and defensive positioning. So, by default, I want him to talk more, in between pitches, in between hitters. So he and I have had conversations about when and where it might be appropriate to lay out a bit. I've never thought of that before, because there was always going to be enough time to let everything in.
"Frankly, what it means for us, is that I (say less) when I'm with Lou, to give him time. Whereas in the past, I might set him up for something like, 'You know, Lou, I'm surprised they went with that pitch in that spot,'... Now, there really isn't room to do that. I just have to step back and let him introduce something on his own.''
___________________________
Now that minor league seasons are underway -- or close to being underway -- he's where some of the top Red Sox prospects will begin the year if you watch to follow their progress:
Triple A Worcester: INF/OF Enmanuel Valdez; RHP Bryan Mata.
Double A Portland: 1B Niko Kavadas; 2B Nick Yorke; OF Ceddanne Rafaela;
High A Greenville: C Nathan Hickey; 1B Blaze Jordan; SS Marcelo Mayer; RHP Wikelman Gonzalez.
Low A Salem: OF Miguel Bleis; SS Mikey Romero, RHP Luis Perales; OF Roman Anthony.