MLB '24 Regular Season Thread

It is. And I hate it every year.

 

Second-half predictions? Let's make some second-half predictions.

* The Orioles somehow land Skubal from Detroit, and it may not take Jackson Holliday to do it. Hear me out. Samuel Basallo is 19 and is the second-rated catching prospect out there. He can also play first. If the new ownership group is serious about keeping Rutschman long term, Basallo will be blocked in the majors. Consider Baltimore still has Mountcastle, and Kjerstad can also play first. You dangle some sort of package that includes Basallo along with Mayo and/or Norby (who are both close to major-league ready), and maybe there's something cooking there. Baltimore HAS to make a pitching splash, and there isn't a ton out there. Time to move some of these pieces to be in better position to win now.

* The Red Sox make the AL East a three-horse race. I don't think they're going away. They've picked up eight games in a month as the O's and Yanks have struggled and are only 4 1/2 out. And they have a ton of AL East games left.

* The Astros get their shit together and win the AL West by at least five games because the Mariners can't hit the baseball.

* The Mariners and Royals both miss out on the playoffs after solid starts. Right now, the wild cards are the Yankees, Twins and Red Sox. Which one of those three drop?

* The NL trade market is a dud because only three teams are truly out of the wild card race right now. The Nats' 3-7 swoon heading into the break zaps their hopes of sneaking in. The Rockies and Marlins have quit. Everyone else is still in it.

* The three division leaders in the NL right now are the leaders at the end of the season. Just don't think the Cards have enough to overtake the Brewers, and the Phillies and Dodgers are just miles ahead of anyone else in their divisions.

* AL Playoffs: 1 BAL 2 CLE 3 HOU 4 NYY 5 BOS 6 MIN

* NL Playoffs: 1 PHI 2 LAD 3 MIL 4 ATL 5 SD (super easy SOS the rest of the way) 6 NYM. You can talk me into multiple coin flips for these final NL wild card spots.

* Feel free to quote and roast this in a couple of months. Ha.

 

Cosmo, I'll be honest ... if they could get Skubal with Holliday and not much else, I think that would be acceptable. And same with Crochet.

If the O's can land either of those two, I'll be delighted. That would make Rodriguez a No. 3 starter and Kremer or Suarez a No. 4, right where they should be.

Here's old-man brain for you: I'm trying to remember the name of the starter the O's just sent down, and it's escaping me. I know it; that mailbox in my head just isn't opening at the moment.

 

Povich.

 

Cade Povich. I knew that. I knew that.

 

Adley played first base some in college, and was decent. He's certainly a good enough athlete to learn the position and be competent. I mean, first base isn't that difficult, right Wash?

 

Hey, now. This Legion first sacker takes exception.

Really, though, there's some nuance to that position, too. Especially the 3-1 play. And if you're a righty, having to re-position your body to throw to second. (You don't see too many lefty-throwing third basemen for that shared reason.) It's learned.

 

The Tigers don't have to move Skubal. I'm sure he will get a big pay bump in arbitration, but they have him under control for two seasons after this one.

Also, Skubal only threw 80 innings last year and 118 in 2022. He is already at 116 for this season. He has never thrown 150 in the majors. I wonder if any team that has him will have to think about limiting his innings. That's an even bigger concern with Crochet.

You may be right that Basallo and Mayo can get it done. They are No. 12 and No. 15 respectively on MLB's prospect rankings. I wouldn't be shocked to see them hold out for Holliday. The downside with Basallo is his position. Catching prospects are volatile and often slow to develop.

 

They picked catchers in the second and fifth rounds this week, so they do seem to be stockpiling.

 

To answer your question further, six of the last 10 had runs scored after the fifth including two games that went to the 10th.

All-Star Game History | MLB.com

 

There’s a reason they put their worst fielders there.