The Dude.
That's what we call the Lebowski.
If Choo would watch a damn movie, he'd understand this and be able to quote it with the rest of us. But alas, Choo has no comedic soul, and the Dude doesn't appear on HGTV. If he did, the Property Brothers would surely ask him about his rug and why it smells like piss.
That's exactly what the Dude did to his franchise. Once called the Otto Parts, the Dude took it over and piled up the wins, five straight playoff appearances and a 2020 World Series title.
It's quite the run to start his franchise, so it begs the question, how does the Dude rate his first five years in the JLB?
"Is this an S-Scale rating, letter grade, pass/fail? We’ll go with letter grade," the Dude said, pouring another White Russian. "Year 1. 'F.' The Dude was a bum and a bad league player but did make the playoffs and the NLCS. 'The bums will always lose! Do you hear me, Lebowski?!' Thankfully, with the Big Lebowski’s warning/advice running through the Duder’s head, he got it together years 2-5. Years 2 to 5, a B-plus. Four playoffs, 1 division title (0.629 winning percentage), 2 NLCS, 1 WS win."
Impressive. The Dude is keeping stats.
Here's some more stats.
Last year, the Dude followed up his World Series Championship with 259 wins in 2021, but still finished second behind JV's record-breaking 276 wins. Then, to make matters worse, the Dude melted in the NLDS to Butter. A low mark at the hands of a team on a high.
"We had almost identical division records, Steaks and the Dude, in 2021," Lebowski said. "The Dude blames the weak AL, you know who you are! But ya, it was quite the swift kick in the Nutz in the ’21 NLDS. The 2022 edition of the Dude is back and better than ever! ... Well, except for 2019 0.629 winning percentage. That ain’t happening again.
I do believe the NL is going to be very competitive this year. I don't think we'll see any team run away with 276 and 259 wins. I truly believe we'll see the division winner boast at most 240 wins.
And that division winner could be the Dude.
He has one of the best offensive catchers in the game in Will Smith, Alex Bregman and Rafael Devers are top notch at third, Trevor Story should be great at 2B/SS in Boston, and the outfield/DH of George Springer, Hunter Renfroe, Mookie Betts and Yordan Alvarez is beyond potent.
If only, the Dude could get Devers to move over the first base where he is the weakest.
"Barring a trade, it’ll be a matchup-based platoon at 1B," the Dude said. "And yes, I’m hoping Devers packed on some pounds to speed up that move to 1B!"
Despite all that firepower on offense, I truly believe the strength for the Dude will be pitching in 2022. He added Dylan Cease and ERod in the offseason, and adds them to a rotation that includes Zac Gallen, Nate Eovaldi, Tyler Mahle and Alek Manoah.
That's a lot of strikeouts.
Perhaps after seeing Butter take the next step with a strong pitching rotation, and of course, witnessing the perennial domination of the Cheese Steaks, the Dude felt the need to shift and bulk up the staff.
"Yes and no, sort of gradual shift based on roster construction more than anything," the Dude explained. "No one in the JLB can compete with the high-end arms amassed by Steaks. The last 2-3 drafts, the Dude has focused on adding SPs early in the drafts, with a goal of quality quantity (QQ). We have a nice mix of Vets and Franchise arms that should make us competitive again in the NL."
There's no doubt he will do just that, and that's why we call him The Dude.
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