In November, when Butter embarked on the 2023 offseason, there's no way he could have envisioned this.
Kodai Senga falling into his lap, and Shintaro Fujinami falling to him in the second round of the Minor League Prospect Draft in January.
He couldn't have predicted that Jordan Walker would not only become the hype of the fantasy world in early March, but make the team as the new starting LF.
Add the name change in and man, it was a busy winter for the Nutz.
"First off, getting Senga was a total surprise," he said. "I was ready to go with a bat there obviously, but couldn’t pass on Senga! Not sure how anyone would to be honest… but then to snag Fujinami in the second round and to get two guys who will be on opening day rosters right out the gate was huge! Especially for our rotation having some bumps and bruises to start the season. We had a strong offseason and look forward to all that hard work to pay off this year."
Those bumps include injuries to Ranger Suarez, Carlos Rodon, Joe Musgrove and Adam Wainwright. It doesn't leave him with a lot to work with heading into the first matchup of the season, and seeing as it is a double-Inter League matchup, it's even more important not to get off to a slow start.
"All of those IL trips should be short ones for the most part so I think we will be OK," he said. "Roansy Contreras is healthy, Senga looks good, Miles (High) Mikolis and Urias start on Opening Day for us so hopefully we start off on a strong foot in the pitching categories right out the gate, so I’m not overly concerned."
We'll see what those concern levels are like after Week 1.
Offensively, the Nutz took a big blow when Rhys Hoskins went down for the season — 30 HRs gone in a flash — but he still has plenty of power and pop in the lineup. So much so when deleting Hoskins' contributions to the team, the Nutz only dropped 1 point in the S-Scale.
That's impressive.
What's more impressive is some of the talent coming up for the Nutz. Walker is primed to be a stud by all accounts. He's even picked to be an MVP candidate by some.
I think we maybe need to slow down on the hype a bit and let the kid play, but for Butter, it's going to be huge if this is the case as he got Walker as part of a deal that sent Vaughn Grissom, Lance Lynn and Max Muncy to Choo back on June 24 of last year.
Oneil Cruz is also a big piece to complete a trade from many years ago when Butter traded Austin Riley to the Slammers for JD Davis, Hunter Dozier and Cruz.
At the time, it was said to be one of the dumbest deals for the Slammers.
Midway through last season, it was clear that the Slammers were the winners of that deal.
And now, we're on the cusp of maybe seeing that deal as a wash altogether because Cruz is an exciting player for the Buccos.
That's a theme on the Oysters, exciting Buccos — strangely Pirates fans don't feel that way as a whole.
Cruz joins Bryan Reynolds, Ke'Bryan Hayes, Andrew McCutchen on the active roster, and Henry Davis and Temarr Johnson are the next wave (after all the aforementioned guys get traded away).
"They are the 6 Buccos players that are worth rostering for sure. We would have liked to have scooped up Bednar prior to the draft, I tried a few times, but he stayed put in Stantonia. But if I had to pick a favorite I have to go with my boy Ke’Bryan. He bulked up this off-season and has shown flashes of power this spring. If he can bring that boom with the bat like we’ve expected from him from day one then he will come into his own and make a big splash this year. Cruz missile is going to crush, and can’t wait to see him make his way into the 30-30 club this season. And Reynolds will pick up LF eligibility early in the season so there’s a ton to love there. Do I really have to pick a favorite? Maybe this is why parents claim they don’t 'pick' favorites…"
Maybe we should be more like parents in the JLB and not pick favorites.
But that doesn't mean I can't pick favorites on Butter's team.
I like Rowdy Tellez and Paul Goldschmidt to be the keys to his success this year. I think Goldy is in for another great year in St. Louis as he continues to defy age, and Rowdy is one of the many left-handed hitters who are candidates to see huge bumps in batting average with the shift deleted.
He batted .219 last year with 35 homers and 89 RBIs. Just imagine what those numbers will look like with a boost in average and a boost in confidence that he can pull the ball and not worry about a second baseman in shallow right field ready to snag his hard-hit liner.
With the offense, and hopefully the quick healthy return of starting pitching, Butter should hit a grove and be a force for the NL playoffs all summer.
That's something he definitely envisioned.
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