The 2022 season is full of promise for Big League Choo.
He's coming off a season where he tied the franchise record for wins with 257 — which he originally set in 2014 — and made his third straight playoff appearance since his short rebuild of 2017 and 2018.
And a fourth straight appearance is on the horizon with this squad.
"I’m truly excited, I think this is my most balanced team ever," Choo said. "I have the roster flexibility to either reload with vets at the deadline or unload vets at the deadline, while still remaining competitive with a young offensive core if I were to sell pieces Sal, Goldy, etc., due to injuries."
Choo went into the draft with Gerrit Cole, Charlie Morton, Kevin Gausman, Sean Manaea and Yusei Kikuchi, but he wasn't able to add much. He seems to disagree.
"No. quite the opposite," he said. "I absolutely love my draft results. I have 3 of the top 15 starters in Cole, Morton, and Gausman. I have some Oakland lettuce with Manaea as a solid 4, and behind him solid innings eaters who will help in the QS and WHIP categories. I may stream a 10th or 11th SP per week, but it depends on who I’m playing. Depending on matchups, I may be streaming for steals or holds."
[Note, that Oakland lettuce turned Padre brown over the weekend.]
That's quite the optimism, but he's right. He can stream those starts and focus on the bullpen with three closers and three guys who can get holds, and of course, on the offensive side, he should be fine. Especially when Ronald Acuna returns to the field.
Until then, he's got Bryan Reynolds to pick up some of the slack.
"I still can’t get over the haul Sam gave me for Bieber," Choo gloated. "Don’t get me wrong, Bieber can be right up there with Scherzer, deGrom, Woodruff, and Cole if he stays healthy. I just felt that I could get 4 legitimate keepers for him while nearly simultaneously, flipping Hoskins-plus for Gausman who is arguably as good as Bieber in terms of 2022 projections."
I definitely can't argue with that. It was one helluva couple swaps for Choo. Reynolds batted .302 with 8 triples, 24 homers, 90 RBIs and 93 runs scored a year ago. It's odd that someone who had 8 triples only had 5 stolen bases, so maybe that total will go up a bit, but even if it doesn't, he is as he said, balanced. Whit Merrifield, the less talented "Witt" on the Royals, will easily assist with the steals.
And let's not forget about the best player to ever put on a Rockies uniform, Jose Igelsias. Choo's been all over the Twitter, posting projections galore.
He even drafted him in his silly side League. He swears to a monster season by the journeyman shortstop.
What does the rest of the League think?
"Choo is higher than Butter post Denver move on Iglesias," Crox said. "Now, Iggy has spent some time on my roster due to his high BA and contact rates, but he’s a bottom of the lineup, garbage time all-star who’s not making it on an active JLB roster after mid-April."
Hey, who knows? Maybe Iggy is a Choo for the whole summer.
It is, afterall, Choo's season of promise.
Comments