Monkeys Never Cramp’s first season in the JLB started strong, but the hopes of making the playoffs in his first JLB season faded quickly during the summer.
The National League, as mentioned in prior posts, is going to be a dogfight, and when you show up to such a skirmish with Mike Trout and Giancarlo Stanton, one best not count you out.
I do have some serious questions outside of those two stars — especially if Carlos Correa, who has missed at least 50 games in each of the last two seasons, is out for a significant amount of time once again.
Trout and Stanton will certainly win some categories for Monkey throughout the season, but can they carry the team?
MONKEY MUST SEE
Here’s a quick snapshot of what I believe must happen on the batting side if Monkey is to defy the preseason poll and make the playoffs.
- Max Muncy can’t be a one-hit wonder. We saw this with Chris Taylor who couldn’t follow up his out-of-nowhere breakout 2017 season. Muncy was last year’s Chris Taylor with 35 homers and 79 RBIs and Monkey needs those numbers again this year.
- Yoan Moncada needs to arrive. Both Monkey and the White Sox have been waiting here, but the peripherals do not look good. Moncada struck out 217 times last year and finished batting just .235. This is far from what the White Sox expected when they traded Chris Sale.
- Maikel Franco needs to take off in that strong Phillies lineup. He had a respectable season last year, batting .270 with 22 homers and 68 RBIs. His 14 homers, 50 RBIs and .280 average in 80 games in 2015 had the Phillies hoping for so much more. Maybe this is the year the 26-year-old makes it happen.
STAY OFF YOUR BIKE AND WALK!
Hey, Madison Bumgarner. Play it safe. Monkey pleads for you to stay healthy and hit your projections of 188 strikeouts and a 3.65 ERA.
So do the Giants, and not because they want to contend. Deep down, they know that’s not happening. Instead, they are hoping to cash in on a big trade.
The Phillies will likely be one of those teams interested, and that would be huge for the Monkey. Add Bumgarner with a rejuvenated Jake Arrieta and there would be some wins to be had on the playoff contending Phillies.
Outside of those two, though, there are question marks throughout. Can Alex Reyes stay healthy and dominate like we’ve seen in very, very small sample sizes?
Can Sean Newcomb find some control and avoid the 81 walks he gave up last year? Can Lucas Giolito do the same and avoid the 90 he issued?
At the end of the day, WHIP will not be Monkeys’ friend if they do not find that control.
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