What? You didn’t think Take Five was going to make it
through the 183 days of the baseball season, did you?
I know some of you wondered after it made it to Saturday,
but the last couple days have been a bit hectic and I didn’t have time to do
it.
So, here’s another edition of Take Five, more the less what
you should expect during the regular season.
1. HOMER AWARD
Choo was perusing the JLB site on ESPN Wednesday and delved into
the trophy case. He forgot about how I used to hand out weekly trophies and
asked — hell, he pleaded — for me to bring them back.
I told him “No,” and it will remain that way. Too much work
to analyze every roster, every stat to pick a Batter and Pitcher of the Week,
only to have Parker cry when you don’t pick Kershaw — hence, the reason Choo
died laughing at the “Crybaby Award,” which was only handed out once, and
yes, it went to Parker.
Still, Choo continued to plead, throwing out ideas for new
awards, including the Homer Award, which he quickly handed to Butter. His love
for the Pirates has led to some interesting draft picks and some interesting
roster moves.
I'm sure I could trade Andrew McCutchen for a pair of his aces.
The one roster move he doesn’t have to worry about making
daily is Nelson Cruz, who has belted six homers in five days. Of course, it’s
against me, so he must be pissed that I dropped him to the draft.
2. CHAMPIONSHIP
SERIES REMATCHES
It certainly wasn’t planned because I just noticed it, but
this week, we have rematches of both the NLCS and the ALCS.
The Cheese Steaks and Vandelay are in a closely contested
battle that looks eerily similar to the matchup I had with Otto last week — bad
batting averages and great pitching. The Steaks got yet another great start
from Shane Greene, who has now pitched eight scoreless in both of his starts
this season.
In the AL, it’s the Choo vs. Bombers, and Choo has a solid
15-5-2 lead late Wednesday night. Still plenty of time left, of course, but
this is the kind of output expected from the two-time defending American League
champ. (Oh, and as usual, he’s out of free agent pickups already.)
3. PETCO DOESN’T
SCARE UPTON
Justin Upton is taking care of business in San Diego. He was
brought in to provide a spark in the offense, and he’s done just that. He hit
the game-winning homer Wednesday — his third jack of 2015, second at Petco — and
he’s leading the Gamblers, who have a commanding lead over Chalupa.
Right now, the Upton for Tanaka deal is looking like a gem
for the Gamblers, one that he would make every day of the week.
4. OTTO-MATIC
David is on fire. His team is just clicking offensively and
he currently leads his brother 16-1-5. That likely will not remain the score,
but offensively, he’s winning 9-0-2, and in seven of the categories, he holds
decent leads that will be challenging to come back on if his offense continues
to hit at a .313 clip. The usual suspects lead the way — Miggy, Trout, Kemp,
Cano — but he’s also getting production from Travis d’Arnaud, Lucas Duda and
Manny Machado. Both d’Arnaud and Duda are hitting over .300 on the season,
while Machado has bounced back from a very slow start (0-for-15) to go 5-for-12
in his last four games. Right now, Otto can’t go wrong with the lineup.
5. McHUGH UNDER THE
RADAR
Many of you might not even know that Collin McHugh was a
keeper for the Sex Panthers. He was often overlooked when Gina got offseason
trade offers that came with the statement: “You need minor league eligible
pitching.”
Trevor Bauer and Marcus Stroman were the known minor league keepers to all, but everyone forgot about McHugh.
After two starts, it may be hard to forget about him again. He is now 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA. He had 11 strikeouts Wednesday against
a strong Oakland offense and he’s been a big part of the Sex Panthers rotation.
Bauer also has played a big role, and on Wednesday, he improved to 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA. He added eight
strikeouts today after fanning 11 Astros in six hitless innings last week.
If only Stroman didn’t go down with the ACL tear, the Panthers could be
looking at a great trio of young starters. She'll enjoy the duo until he returns.
Comments