CAN WE GIVE TIM TEBOW A BIT OF CREDIT?
There aren’t many soon-to-be 30-year-old players in Single-A baseball. I’m wondering if Tim Tebow is the only one.
I have no idea why the New York Mets are using him in the outfield at St. Lucie (Florida State League instead of using the spot on a younger prospect or even a suspect.
But let’s give the former Heisman Trophy winner and brief NFL quarterback some credit for performing better than most of us expected.
Tebow hit a walk-off home run to give St. Lucie a 5-4 victory over Daytona Thursday night. He has an 11-game hitting streak.
Many of us scoffed at the Mets for promoting Tebow from the Columbia Fireflies (South Atlantic League), where he was struggling, to St. Lucie in the significantly better Florida State League.
Tebow, who always reminds us that he loves to compete and prove critics wrong, is tearing up the pitching-dominated Florida State League.
With Columbia – 64 games; .220 batting average (47 for 214); 14 doubles; 1 triple; 3 HRs; 23 RBI; 24 walks; 69 strikeouts; .311 on-base percentage; .366 slugging percentage; .648 OPS.
With St. Lucie – 16 games; .327 batting average (16-for-49; 2 doubles; 3 HRs; 10 RBI; 6 walks; 9 strikeouts; .421 on-base percentage; .551 slugging percentage; .972 OPS.
Will Tebow’s next stop be the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (AA Eastern League), the Las Vegas 51s (AAA Pacific Coast League) or the New York Mets?
If he joins the Mets when the rosters expand in September, I’m sure he’ll be in the nationwide spotlight. A lot of people will be hoping to see him fall on his faced. I’ll be in the camp rooting for him.
IS AARON JUDGE TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?
New York Yankees gigantic slugger Aaron Judge, no lock to make the team entering this spring training, is the new face of baseball. Can anyone deny that?
When post-All-Star Game play resumes Friday, Judge is the runaway leader for American League Most Valuable Player. The rest of the MVP field can be debated, but Judge obviously is No. 1 and the man to catch.
Here is his performance line and where he ranks in Major League Baseball:
.329 batting average (5th)
75 runs (2nd)
30 home runs (1)
66 RBI (7th)
61 walks (3rd)
109 strikeouts (t5th)
.448 on-base percentage (1st)
.691 slugging percentage (1st)
1.139 OPS -- on-base % + slugging % (1st).
My American League MVP ballot entering Friday:
1 – Aaron Judge
2 through 10 (in order of preference as of Friday) – Carlos Correa (Houston)...Jose Ramirez (Cleveland)...Jose Altuve (Houston)...George Springer (Houston)...Mike Trout (LA Angels)...Miguel Sano (Minnesota)...Justin Smoak (Toronto)...Salvador Perez (Kansas City)...Craig Kimbrel (Boston).
Trout could join Fred Lynn (1975) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001) as the only Major League Baseball players to be selected Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. He would be by far the biggest surprise among the trio:
In 1974, Lynn had a very good season at Triple-A Pawtucket (.282, 21 HRs, 68 RBI in 124 games...teammate Jim Rice was the IL MVP) and had an impressive 15-game stint with Boston in September (.419 batting average, 2 HRs, 10 RBI).
In his 1975 AL MVP season with Boston, he hit .331 with 103 runs, 47 doubles, 7 triples, 21 HRs, 105 RBI and a .967 OPS. Off his previous season, his 1975 season was a surprise but not a shock.
Suzuki was a 27-year-old, nine-year veteran of Japanese baseball when he joined Seattle as a MLB “rookie” in 2001.
In 2000, with Orix, he batted .387 (153-for-395), with 105 runs, 22 doubles, 1 triple, 12 HRs, 73 RBI, 21 steals in 22 attempts, 54 walks, 36 strikeouts and a .999 OPS.
Suzuki’s 2001 “rookie” season with Seattle was spectacular but not a shock considering his dominance in Japan. In 157 games with the Mariners, he batted .350 with 127 runs, 34 doubles, 8 triples, 8 HRs, 69 RBI, 56 stolen bases, 30 walks, 53 strikeouts and a .838 OPS.
Judge was an International League 2016 All-Star outfielder, but his batting line for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was not spectacular: In 93 games, he batted .270 (95-for-352) with 62 runs, 18 doubles, 1 triple, 19 HRs, 65 RBI, 47 walks and 98 strikeouts. In his 27-game stint with the 2016 Yankees, he hit .179 (15-for-84), with 4 HRs, 10 RBI and 42 strikeouts.
PICTURE AARON JUDGE IN THE LINEUP OF OTHER TEAMS
Judge was the 32nd overall pick in the 2013 MLB June entry draft.
Here were the players selected ahead of him:
1--RHP Mark Appel by Houston
2--3B Kris Bryant by Cubs
3—RHP Jonathan Gray by Colorado
4—RHP Kohl Stewart by Minnesota
5—OF Clint Frazier by Cleveland. He’s now Judge’s teammate on the Yankees.
6—3B Colin Moran by Miami
7—LHP Trey Ball by Boston. Picture Judge in a Red Sox uniform putting dents in the Green Monster.
8—SS Hunter Dozier by Kansas City
9—CH Austin Meadows by Pittsburgh
10—RHP Phil Bickford by Toronto.
11—1B Dominic Smith by the Mets
12—3B DJ Peterson by Seattle
13—RF Hunter Renfroe by San Diego
14—C Reese McGuire by Pittsburgh
15—RHP Braden Shipley by Arizona
16—SS J.P Crawford by Philadelphia
17—SS Tim Anderson by the White Sox
18—RHP Chris Anderson by the Dodgers
19—LHP Marco Gonzales by St. Louis
20—RHP Jonathon Crawford by Detroit
21—C Nick Ciuffo by Tampa Bay
22—RHP Hunter Harvey by Baltimore. Picture Judge playing 81 home games at cozy Camden Yards.
23—RHP Alex Gonzalez by Texas
24—OF Billy McKinney by Oakland
25—SS Christian Arroyo San Francisco
26—3B Eric Jagielo by the Yankees. The Notre Dame product is one month younger than Judge and was selected seven picks ahead of Judge. He was part of the trade with Cincinnati for Aroldis Chapman. He has some power but is a very slow runner and average-at-best defensively. He currently is hitting .230 with 5 HRs and 19 RBI for Pensacola in the Southern League (AA).
27—OF Phil Ervin by Cincinnati
28—RHP Rob Kaminsky by St. Louis
29—RHP Ryne Stanek by Tampa Bay
30—SS Travis Demeritte by Texas
31—RHP Jason Hursh by Atlanta.
32—Judge.
EXPECT JUDGE’S BATTING AVERAGE TO TAKE A DIP
Of all Judge’s positive statistics, I am most surprised by his .329 batting average. His immense power is a plus because he hits more ground balls through infield holes than the ordinary batter. But most players who swing as hard as Judge, and who strike out as often as he does, don’t post high batting averages.
Nine hitters in MLB history have struck out at least 200 times in a season. Here they are (batting averages in parentheses):
Mark Reynolds 223 Ks in 2009 (.260)
Adam Dunn 222 Ks in 2012 (.204)
Chris Davis 219 Ks in 2016 (.221)
Chris Carter 212 in 2013 (.223)
Mark Reynolds 211 in 2010 (.198)
Chris Davis 208 Ks in 2015 (.262)
Chris Carter 206 Ks in 2016 (.222)
Drew Stubbs 205 Ks in 2011 (.243)
Mark Reynolds 204 Ks in 2008 (.239).
Judge entered Friday with 109 strikeouts. I expect him to join the 200-K Club this season but I also believe he can be AL MVP with a batting average in the .275-to-.280 range.
BARTOLO COLON UPDATE
Bartolo Colon’s debut with the Rochester Red Wings Thursday night in Allentown, Pa., wasn’t good but wasn’t horrible.
His pitching line: 3 2/3 innings; 4 hits allowed (all for extra bases); 4 runs, all earned (though one fly ball in the first inning could’ve been caught); 2 walks; 5 strikeouts.
He threw 76 pitches, 50 for strikes. He probably was a bit rusty. He topped out at 88 mph.
Assuming he starts for the Red Wings at Frontier Field Monday or Tuesday against Charlotte, he’ll probably be looser and throw a bit harder. He’ll definitely draw a crowd. There were 8,544 in Allentown Thursday night.
At age 44, Colon is the oldest Red Wing pitcher since Rochester product Bob Keegan (40 in 1960), the oldest Red Wing player since Luke Easter (at least 48 in 1964) and the oldest IL pitcher since former Red Wings left-hander Jamie Moyer worked briefly for Norfolk in 2012 at age 49. Hall of Famer Satchel Paige was 51 in his last of three seasons with the Miami Marlins in 1958. He used to sit in the bullpen in a rocking chair.
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EASY NFL PREDICTION: TOM BRADY WILL BE LEAGUE MVP THIS SEASON
Admit it, Buffalo Bills fans. It wouldn’t be so bad living in New England this fall and rooting for the Patriots. The defending Super Bowl champions arguably improved more than any other NHL team in the offseason.
Quarterback Tom Brady turns 40 on August 3 and one of the easiest predictions heading into the 2017 season is that he’ll be the league MVP.
ESPN’s four AFC East reporters were asked to project the division’s MVP for this season. All four picked Brady. And why not? He’s playing on a loaded team. One AFC East rival will be tanking (the Jets) and another AFC East rival is the Buffalo (17 and counting) Bills.
James Walker of Miami summed it up best: “The Patriots are stacked at every skill position offensively and Brady should put up huge numbers.” Amen. No one distributes the ball better than Brady.
Wide receivers – Brandin Cooks, Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, Chris Hogan, Malcolm Mitchell, Andrew Hawkins
Running backs – James White, Dion Lewis, Mike Gillislee, Rex Burkhead, James Develin
Tight ends – Rob Gronkowski (he’s healthy – for now), Dwayne Allen
Quarterbacks – Tom Brady, Jimmy Garopollo, Jacoby Brissett.
SOME FUN PROJECTIONS FOR BASEBALL’S STRETCH RUN
ESPN polled 27 staff baseball experts for their projections on the rest of this MLB season:
American League champion – Astros 18...Indians 5,,,Red Sox 4
National League champion – Dodgers 20...Nationals 7
World Series winner – Astros 10...Dodgers 10...Indians 4...Red Sox 2...Nationals 1
AL MVP – Aaron Judge 15...Mookie Betts 4...Jose Altuve 3...Mike Trout 2...Carlos Correa 2...George Springer 1
NL MVP – Paul Goldschmidt 12...Bryce Harper 8...Nolan Arenado 3...Clayton Kershaw 2...Cory Seager 2
AL Cy Young – Chris Sale 24...Anthony Miller 1...Jason Vargas 1...Corey Kluber 1
NL Cy Young – Clayton Kershaw 13...Max Scherzer 13
Wins by the Astros – 100-to-113 25
Wins by the Dodgers – 100-to-106 16
Will Aaron Judge hit 50 HRs – Yes 15...No 12.
SHORT SHOTS
Ted Nolan, former coach of three NHL teams, including the Buffalo Sabres (when they were really lousy) and a former Rochester Americans player and vice-president of hockey operations, this week was named of the Polish National Hockey Team. He coached Latvia to an 8th-place finish in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. His contract with the Sabres expired after this season.
If the Amerks are going to be a genuine Calder Cup contender this season, right wing Justin Bailey could be a major factor. He turned 22 July 1 and is up to 220 pounds. He has the size, speed and hands to be a prominent Buffalo player for a long time. In 122 games with Rochester, he has 43 goals and 38 assists. In 40 games with Buffalo, he has 2 goals and 2 assists.
The American League continues to prove it is better than the National League. Tuesday night’s 2-1 victory gives the AL a 12-3 advantage in the last 15 All-Star Games. The AL leads the NL 23-20 in the last 43 World Series. The AL leads the NL in interleague play 91-82 this season and has won the interleague series in each of the past 13 seasons.