Category Archives: MLB

The Invisible Deadline Holding Major League Baseball’s Top Prospects Back

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By: Brady Shick

Brady Shick is from Sagamore Hills, Ohio and recently graduated from Bowling Green State University. He is currently seeking opportunities to pursue a career in Baseball Operations.

July 7, 2025

Every team in Major League Baseball (MLB) looks for a way to get a foot up on their competitors. In past drafts, teams have taken high school prospects higher than they are projected and try to sign them away, with more money than projected, from the college for which they committed to play. One of the most common ways and most controversial is through service time manipulation. Service time is a value system that equates the number of days a player spends on the active 26-man roster for each Major League team. Service time is then used to determine when a player reaches arbitration with his respective club. Small market teams are normally the main culprits of manipulating their players’ service time, but almost always headlined each season by the Pirates. The most common way to manipulate is through the Super-2 deadline and the debuts of top prospects.

The Super-2 deadline normally takes place in the end of May or beginning of June every year and is the cutoff date for players to gain an extra year in which they are arbitration eligible, which normally takes place after three years of service time. If a player is in the top 22% of service time compared to those in their rookie class, they gain an extra year where they can go to arbitration to make more money during that season. If teams wait to call up a prospect later they can save money to use in free agency.

Teams like the Pirates constantly use this strategy with examples being Gerrit Cole, Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow, and most recently Paul Skenes. Notable stars called up after the deadline include Bobby Witt Jr (Kansas City Royals), Byron Buxton (Minnesota Twins), Elly De La Cruz (Cincinnati Reds) among others. Most of these players eventually went on to free agency, signing with other teams or being traded prior to reaching free agency.

2025 and Super-2 

Within the last week, Major League Baseball has seen two of their top minor league prospects come up to the big leagues in Jac Caglianone (Royals) and Roman Anthony (Red Sox). Caglianone, a former two-way player, hitting and pitching at the University of Florida, has dominated across both AA and AAA levels in the minors. This was all while learning a new position (right field). Caglianone made his Major League Debut without playing a full season in the minors and after dominating in the lower levels. 

On the other hand, Roman Anthony has been as dominant as anyone in the minors this season batting .288 with 10 homers in 58 games. He was also the top prospect in all of Minor League Baseball’s second visit to Triple-A. Many scouts across the industry were perplexed as to why he hadn’t gotten the call to the big leagues yet. Major League executives were less confused on his arrival time to Boston. By holding Anthony until this time of the season the Red Sox let the Super-2 deadline pass and gained an extra year of pre-arbitration control on Anthony. All of this was done for the Red Sox to save a few extra bucks while continuing to fall out of the division and wild card standings. 

The Red Sox aren’t the only team following this practice. The second ranked prospect in the minors, Bubba Chandler (Pirates), is currently pitching in Indianapolis. The Pirates have called up three other pitching prospects from Triple-A all of whom were on staff with Chandler and none of whom have pitched as well as he has. This is just another instance of the utilization of the Super-2 deadline for baseball.

Dying Practice

Many fans will remember that the 2022 MLB season was delayed due to a players’ strike. One of the largest gripes by the Players Union was the service time manipulation by front offices across the league. Finally, after three plus months of a strike both the owners and players agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement with this issue somewhat resolved.

The solution was for owners and front offices to be incentivized to call up their top prospects at the beginning of the season. If a top prospect makes the Opening Day roster and then wins his league’s respective Rookie of the Year award, that team receives a pick after the first round in the next draft. A team will also receive an extra pick if that prospect finishes in the top three of the Cy Young or MVP awards before he reaches arbitration. However, a team is only eligible for one pick each draft and each player’s success can only be responsible for one extra pick. Since the inauguration of this rule, the Orioles and Mariners have benefitted with Adley Rutschman finishing second in the Rookie of the Year race in 2022 and Julio Rodriguez winning Rookie of the Year that same season.

This new system also can have negative consequences for front offices. Last year’s National League Rookie of the Year did not make the Opening Day Roster for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Had Skenes been up since day one, the Pirates would have received an extra pick in this month’s draft, but due to the new rules this wasn’t the case. Additionally, because Skenes won Rookie of the Year he was awarded a full-year of service time and the Pirates lost the extra year of pre-arbitration they were fighting to maintain.

Future of the Super-2

Service time manipulation has been a big issue for years within the MLBPA and it looks like a better solution is coming. Potentially, long gone are the days of prospects not making their debuts until early to mid-June thanks to the potential for an extra draft pick. However, baseball might be the hardest to predict a prospect’s future. There are plenty of guys that take a year or even a couple to figure out the big leagues. With so much uncertainty teams and front offices will continue to find ways to lengthen their competitive window and service time manipulation is the most accessible. But for the fans hopefully they can see a Travis Bazzana (Guardians) or a JJ Weatherholt (Cardinals) on an Opening Day roster.

Three Number One Prospects Ready to Shine: The Race for the 2025 AL Rookie of the Year

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By: Brady Shick

Brady Shick is from Sagamore Hills, Ohio and recently graduated from Bowling Green State University. He is currently seeking opportunities to pursue a career in Baseball Operations.

March 26, 2025

One of the most prestigious awards in Major League Baseball is the Rookie of the Year Award. Hall of Famers like Rod Carew, Willie Mays, and Johnny Bench have won it. The Rookie of the Year was originally named the J. Louis Comiskey Award, after the infamous owner of the Chicago White Sox. The award was then changed to the Jackie Robinson Award in 1987 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Robinson breaking the color barrier and winning the award en route to his Hall of Fame career.

While the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year race was the more entertaining between the two leagues, 2025 brings a fresh breath of talent to the American League. Each of the players below are the top prospects for their respective clubs with two of the prospects likely to make the opening day rosters. 

Favorites

Jackson Jobe

The Tigers made an exciting playoff run at the end of last season. After trading Jack Flaherty and continuing to sell at the trade deadline the Tigers appeared to be giving up on the season. However, after the deadline the Tigers caught lightning in a bottle and made it into the postseason. As a wild card team, the Tigers took the Guardians to five games in the Divisional Series. During that stretch the Tigers were short on pitchers and called up their top pitching prospect Jackson Jobe. Jobe threw four innings during the regular season in two games and finished with a 0.00 E.R.A. 

From a scouting standpoint Jobe recently struck out perennial All-Star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in a spring training start, displaying his dominant pitching arsenal. Jobe’s best pitch is his fastball that sits in the upper 90s with excellent rise. Jobe then pairs his fastball with another plus pitch in his slider. His slider is an analytics darling thanks to its high RPM and movement. Jobe additionally, throws a changeup and cutter to complete his pitching arsenal. The biggest gripe against Jobe is his workload and injury history. He set a professional career high last season throwing 91 ⅔ innings across multiple levels. Additionally, he missed time due to a strained hamstring and back inflammation over his early career.

Jacob Wilson

Jacob Wilson is one of the best pure hitting prospects in recent history. He has the swing and hands to adapt to any pitch in any zone. Not to mention he strikes out in fewer than 10% of his plate appearances. That is unheard of in today’s game. His approach is comparable to hitters from the 60s and 70s. He is in the box to put the ball in play and will do so on a line. He will swing at anything and make contact. In my opinion Jacob Wilson will win a batting title at some point during his career. 

Wilson is also the son of a former gold glove shortstop, Jack Wilson (Pirates, Mariners, and Braves), and it’s apparent in his game. Jacob Wilson profiles to be a potential gold glove shortstop thanks to his soft hands and excellent footwork. If it is within his range he will cleanly field the ball and deliver a strike to first. 

If he has a weakness, Wilson lacks the ability to hit for power. He will likely never hit more than 15 home runs in a season and he doesn’t have elite exit velocity numbers. This can be concerning in today’s MLB where every hitter chases launch angle and exit velocity. Additionally, Wilson is of average speed. For someone who is a contact hitter with little power, speed is normally a must. Wilson is by no means slow but he’s not going to impress on the base paths. 

Dark Horse

Travis Bazanna 

Travis Bazanna was the number one overall pick and the only one of these prospects I’ve had the opportunity to see in person. Bazanna was the obvious choice at number one for the Guardians last year. He has the potential to have an elite hit tool and also be an above average power hitter for his position, second base. This is all in large part due to his quick hands and compact swing from the left side. While he struggled at first, Bazanna helped lead the Lake County Captains to their first Midwest League Title in 14 years; he homered for his first professional hit. His numbers, while not impressive, were brought down by how long it took him to get adjusted. There is no doubt in my mind however that Bazanna will hit at the next level. 

Now the red flag for the Guardians taking Bazanna at number one overall was the fact that he is and only will be a second baseman. Bazanna is athletic but not a great fielder. His athletic ability lets him cover more area than most but he lacks the fundamentals at the position and is regularly caught in between hops. Additionally, Bazanna’s arm keeps him regulated to second base long term with a below average grade.

The Guardians made a move this off season to free up second base for Bazanna at the position. In December the Guardians traded their gold glove second baseman, Andrés Gimenez, for a starting pitcher, two pitching prospects, and an outfield prospect. This trade was only two seasons removed from a 7 year extension with the Guardians for Gimenez. Making a move like this hints at the faith that the Guardians have in Travis Bazanna and his future. However, Bazanna has only played in High-A for the Guardians last season. While he will likely start the season in Double-A the Guardians are not likely to be rushing him to make his MLB debut.

Conclusion

Jackson Jobe looks like he could be this season’s Paul Skenes. Jobe has a great pitching arsenal led by an elite fastball similar to Skenes. Additionally, Jobe already has had the experience in high leverage situations at the Major League level pitching for the Tigers in relief during last year’s postseason. His AL Central counterpart, Travis Bazanna is a former number one overall pick with a ton of potential in front of him. The Guardians have freed up second base for the long-term for Bazanna to take over and it’s just a matter of time for him to do so. Out west Jacob Wilson is coming to the league as one of the most disciplined hitting prospects in recent history. The only thing holding him back will be his power, but he benefits from playing a critical position at shortstop. This race is likely to be as good as the fans have seen in recent memory.

Grading Every MLB Team’s 2024 Offseason (30-21): Part III

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If Marlins trade Tim Anderson, he gets $500,000 bonus

Caption: New Miami Marlins Shortstop Tim Anderson fielding a ground ball

By Sam Morris

Sam Morris is from Madison Heights, Michigan, and is an undergraduate student at BGSU majoring in Sports Management. He has a passion for sports writing and journalism. In his free time, he also performs, writes, and produces his own raps for the music industry club at BGSU.

March 15, 2024

It has been an extremely eventful offseason in Major League Baseball (MLB). A multitude of superstar free agents have been on the move, previously mediocre teams have made trades that have suddenly turned them into contenders, and an abnormally high number of prospects will reach the big leagues as rookies after Spring Training. To break down the 2024 MLB offseason, I have graded each team’s moves and ranked the team’s off-seasons based on how much I think their decisions will positively or negatively impact them.

Spring training games started a few weeks ago on February 22nd and will go on for a week and a half until March 26th. Some of the biggest free agents remaining include starting pitchers Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove who could help many of the teams that are currently lower on this list in their off-season moves. Once opening day hits on March 28th, we will begin to see just how each team’s off-season moves will truly help them.

30. Los Angeles Angels    (F)

Los Angeles Angels

Major Additions

  • OF Aaron Hicks
  • 1B Evan White
  • RP Jose Cisnero

This was one of the easiest teams to rank on this list as the Angels had a franchise-altering off-season after losing two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani to the cross-town Dodgers. While remaining in the Ohtani sweepstakes for a brief moment in the offseason, it soon became clear that the Angels weren’t going to be able to compete with the Dodgers. Losing Ohtani means that the Angels have lost arguably the most globally recognizable player in baseball. Potentially even worse, it also means that they have wasted an enormous opportunity by not making the playoffs a single time while having two of the greatest baseball players of all time on their roster (Ohtani and Trout).

29. Miami Marlins    (D-)

Full details: Miami Marlins reveal new logo, uniforms coming Friday - Fish Stripes

Major Additions

  • SS Tim Anderson
  • UTIL Vidal Brujan

After being a surprising team and sneaking into the playoffs last year, the Marlins’ off-season was surprisingly lackluster to say the least. While the rest of the National League East made a plethora of trades and free agent signings, Miami only added Shortstop Tim Anderson from the White Sox, and Vidal Brujan, a utilityman and base stealing threat from Tampa Bay, who will likely be used off the bench. Anderson is the more interesting of the two additions as he will slide in as the everyday starter immediately and will be looking to bounce back from his horrendous 2023 campaign in which he batted a mediocre .245, had just 1 home run, and had a minuscule 25 rbi’s from the leadoff spot in Chicago’s batting order. What’s unique about Anderson is that he batted over .300 in 4 consecutive seasons for Chicago from 2019-2022 before last year, so if Miami can get that type of production from him then their offseason could prove this ranking wrong. However, Anderson’s unpredictable performance coupled with the fact that Miami also lost pivotal pieces from last year’s playoff team, including Jorge Soler, Joey Wendle, and Yuli Gurriel, makes me question why they didn’t try to get another piece or two to help bolster their roster and build more upon last year’s surprising success.

28. Colorado Rockies    (D-)

File:Colorado Rockies Cap Insignia.svg - Wikipedia

Major Additions

  • SP Cal Quantrill
  • C Jacob Stallings

If it weren’t for the Oakland Athletics playing so poorly that fans thought a historic loss record could potentially be broken, then the Rockies would have surely been the worst team in baseball last year. In the 2000’s, Colorado had stars like Ubaldo Jimenez, Troy Tulowitzki, and Todd Helton. Then, in the 2010’s, Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story took them back to the playoffs. But the present-day Rockies are severely lacking any real star power, with 32-year-old Kris Bryant being their most recognizable player. Although they are in a rebuild, their farm system isn’t helping the problem either, as they have been consistently ranked in the bottom 5 in the league for the past few seasons. With that being said, while Colorado didn’t lose anybody big from their roster like a few other teams this low on the list, they also barely did anything to improve it either. Their only moves came in first signing Cal Quantrill from Cleveland, who could potentially become their ace. They also signed 2021 Gold Glove Winner Jacob Stallings from Miami, who had a good year last year with the Marlins. However, adding a catcher was confusing in my opinion as out of anybody in Colorado’s lineup, 2023 all-star game MVP, catcher Elias Diaz was by far the most productive. Unfortunately for Colorado, the other 4 NL West teams’ off-seasons rank in the top 10 on this list.

27. Minnesota Twins    (D)

Minnesota Twins unveil new logos, uniforms - Twinkie Town

Major Additions

  • SP Anthony DeSclafini
  • DH Carlos Santana

Last season’s American League Central champions lost a lot of players this offseason and didn’t add much in return. Two of their top pitchers, Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda are now gone, one of them (Maeda) within their own division. To compensate, the Twins nabbed DeSclafini from the Giants. Desclafini’s career has fallen off significantly since leaving Cincinnati and he isn’t nearly a quality replacement for both Maeda and Gray at the top end of their rotation. To make matters worse, Jorge Polanco is on Seattle now leaving a gaping hole across from Correa at second base. The Polanco loss is extremely important because Correa, Royce Lewis, and Byron Buxton are now Minnesota’s most productive bats, and all three of them are severely injury prone. The only notable offensive player the Twins signed this offseason was about as far away from a young second baseman as humanly possible: 37-year-old DH Carlos Santana.

26. Tampa Bay Rays    (D)

Tampa Bay Rays (U.S.)

Major Additions

  • SP Ryan Pepiot
  • RP Tyler Alexander
  • INF Jose Caballero

The Rays’ ability to win with the lowest payroll in the league will be put to the test this season as they are yet another case of losing a lot and gaining little in return. Tampa Bay got hit hard by big-city market teams, losing their ace, Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Manuel Margot to the L.A. Dodgers, and closer Andrew Kittredge to St Louis. Like the Twins, the Rays also lost someone important to last year’s playoff run to Seattle, power hitting first baseman Luke Raley. Tampa’s offense and pitching will be taking a hit with these losses. The Pepiot signing as part of the Glasnow trade should help build a deeper pitching staff but not necessarily a top-15 staff in the league. Caballero is also an interesting prospect from Seattle’s system and he will most likely be used in a platoon at shortstop with veteran Amed Rosario now that Wander Franco is gone. Caballero will have to improve hitting wise though if he expects to make up for the massive Margot and Raley losses to the Tampa lineup.

25. Toronto Blue Jays   (D)

Toronto Blue Jays Logo, symbol, meaning, history, PNG, brand

Major Additions

  • 1B Joey Votto
  • OF Kevin Kiermaier
  • UTIL Isiah Kiner-Falefa
  • DH Daniel Vogelbach
  • 3B/DH Justin Turner

In my opinion, while not the worst offseason on this list, Toronto made the most perplexing moves. Besides adding Kevin Kiermaier, the Blue Jays went all-in on offense and power this offseason. They got Canadian-born Joey Votto as a free agent from the Reds, Vogelbach from the Mets, and Justin Turner from the Red Sox. Although they will definitely hit some home runs, all of these free agents are very similar players playing similar positions. The Blue Jays also lost some of their best players, including star 3B Matt Chapman, pitchers Hyun Jin Ryu and Jordan Hicks, and 2B Whit Merrifield. Toronto didn’t address any of the holes left by the offensive players they lost and instead picked players at the same positions as Vladimir Guerrero. They also didn’t improve their starting or relief pitching staffs.

24. Cleveland Guardians   (D+)

Cleveland unveils new team name, logos: Cleveland Guardians - Covering the Corner

Major Additions

  • RP Scott Barlow
  • C Austin Hedges

Cleveland addressed a major need in the back half of their bullpen by adding former Royals closer Scott Barlow to presumably be their set up man, which will give them one of the best 8th-9th inning combos in baseball with Barlow-Clase. Hedges is also a nice piece as a veteran catcher for this Guardians lineup. Despite these nice moves, Cleveland didn’t make any significant trades or free agent signings that will make their offense or starting pitching better, which were by far their two biggest needs last season. If Cleveland would have gotten at least one big name free agent then they could easily be considered a favorite to win the Central with the Twins having such a poor offseason and the division being the definitively worst in MLB. However, their offense will most likely stay stagnant with the current lineup which will not help them against the Tigers’ young up-and-coming pitching staff.

23. Pittsburgh Pirates   (D+)

Pittsburgh Pirates' team name history

Major Additions

  • CP Aroldis Chapman
  • C Yasmani Grandal
  • 1B/DH Rowdy Tellez
  • SP Martin Perez
  • SP Marco Gonzales

The Pirates have one of the best farm systems in MLB but hate to spend money. So what did they do? They signed 5 veterans to relatively short and cheap deals to help the upcoming youth. These deals strengthen their immediate future, but similar to Cleveland, I wish they would have done more this offseason to help them realistically compete in a wide-open NL Central race. I legitimately think anyone could win that division and the Pirates didn’t do nearly enough to help them compete in the long term. Gonzales and Perez will be top-end rotation guys which will make for a mediocre rotation at best. Tellez and Grandal will hit home runs but won’t do much in terms of hitting consistently for average.

22. Chicago White Sox   (C-)

File:Chicago White Sox Insignia.svg - Wikipedia

Major Additions

  • SP Chris Flexen
  • SP Eric Fedde
  • C Max Stassi
  • SP Michael Soroka
  • INF Nicky Lopez
  • SS Paul DeJong
  • OF Kevin Pillar

The White Sox went into almost a complete roster overhaul this offseason. They lost inconsistent shortstop Tim Anderson to Miami and replaced him with ex-Cardinal Paul DeJong. They also lost two of their best relievers, Liam Hendriks and Bryan Shaw but didn’t gain any better relievers back. They added Soroka from the Braves, Flexen from the Rockies and Fedde from the Nationals to their starting pitching staff, but lost better starters in Aaron Bummer, Mike Clevinger, and perennial all-star ace Dylan Cease. Overall, the White Sox management clearly sees a new vision and a complete rebuild in the future, but it’ll just take a while for them to get their team back into contention in the AL Central.

21. Philadelphia Phillies   (C-)

File:Philadelphia Phillies Insignia.svg - Wikipedia

Major Additions

  • 2B Whit Merrifield

Philadelphia has had major playoff success in 2022 and 2023 and after probably the most boring offseason on this list, they have essentially kept the same team this year. They first locked down their ace pitcher Aaron Nola by resigning him for a 7-year deal. Then, they got professional contact hitter Whit Merrifield to help at a variety of positions. The main reason the Phillies rank so low is because they failed to sign Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto who they were heavily linked to in free agent discussions. They also lost both first baseman Rhys Hoskins and closer Craig Kimbrel. Because of this, Bryce Harper will most likely have to play first base again since they didn’t sign a new player at that position. This will severely weaken their outfield depth and defense with Schwarber and Castellanos on the corners. The Kimbrel loss is also big as the rest of their bullpen is relatively weak and was not addressed this offseason.

2024 Cincinnati Reds Offseason in Review

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Caption: Jonathan India makes a play

By Ryan Harless

Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and Professional Wrestling are his primary interests but he is also interested in golf, hockey, and football

Reposted: March 10, 2024

The 2024 Major League Baseball season is underway which means it is time for me to run through all of the moves my Cincinnati Reds made and decide whether or not I think they had a productive offseason.

First and foremost, the Reds did indeed make moves this offseason which is more than can be said about a lot of the recent off-season’s. Reds fans like myself had grown accustomed to quiet winter months with the only noise coming when Cincinnati lost a young star in free agency because they were afraid to spend money.

The elephant in the room for me is the fact that my favorite baseball player of all time, Joey Votto, is no longer a Cincinnati Red. That makes me want to puke. I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that Votto gave his entire Hall of Fame caliber career to this team, and they never got him to a single World Series and rarely even looked like they cared to.

I still am holding out hope that Votto will sign back with the Reds in a coaching capacity because I can’t fathom seeing him play baseball in any other jersey.

Now onto the baseball.

Nick Senzel elected for free agency and found a home with the Washington Nationals. I think this was needed for both sides. Senzel never was able to live up to his potential in Cincinnati due in part to his proclivity to injury. I hope he can find his footing with the Nationals and carve out a path for himself.

On the first of December, Cincinnati picked up a pair of good relief arms in Emilio Pagan and Nick Martinez. Pagan has made a name for himself as a reliable bullpen arm who averages more than one punchout per inning pitched. Martinez started his career as a starter but has found more success recently coming out in relief. Although he has stated that he would prefer to start, I don’t see that as a realistic possibility on this Reds team.

I like the thought of bringing in better bullpen guys as in 2023, once the starter was out of the game it felt like a grab bag of what happens next. I do think Cincinnati is overpaying for Martinez who is slated to make $14 million this year. For a guy with a career ERA over 4.00 and a team who has been adamant about not spending money, this is an odd deal.

Just 10 days after the signing of Pagan and Martinez, the Reds were in the news again. This time it was the signing of 30-year-old third baseman Jeimer Candelario. Candelario got a pretty penny inking a three-year contract worth $45 million.

I’m going to be entirely honest. I don’t like this deal whatsoever. The Reds have a PLETHORA of young homegrown infielders. This entire offseason we were wondering if Jonathan India would get traded as they didn’t look to have room for him. The Reds drafted India AS A THIRD BASEMAN!! I don’t know why we needed to drop $15 million a year on someone who has such similar stats and projections to India when we already have him on the team.

The Reds also re-signed free agent pitcher Buck Farmer for $2.25 million. Yet another arm who can reliably come out of the pen in most situations.

2024 MLB Free Agent Predictions

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By Ryan Harless

Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.

November 19, 2023

­Baseball season has come to an end yet again and now is time to look forward to what may be at the start of next season with some free agents! This is one of the most star-studded free agent classes of recent memory, so I am expecting some fireworks and some interesting looking teams come next April.

Criteria: I am only selecting the free agents I wanted to talk about so unfortunately, I won’t be doing deep dives on Drew Rucinski.

Catcher: Gary Sanchez – After having a few weird years with the Yankees and Twins, Sanchez made a huge impact this year with the Padres. He helped ace Blake Snell to have one of the best seasons of his career from behind the plate and helped bring a little more fight to the already pretty stacked Padres. He didn’t provide a lot of help in the batter’s box BUT as an elite defensive catcher and with the ace of the staff asking to be caught by him, I imagine Sanchez will stay in San Diego.

First Base: Rhys Hoskins – Following a disappointing NLCS loss to the Diamondbacks, Hoskins is in an odd spot. The rumors around MLB are that Bryce Harper is planning on being full time at first base from 2024 onward which makes it look like Hoskins will be finding a new home this offseason. I think a great spot for him would be San Francisco. He could take over for Wilmer Flores and free him up to become a utility player yet again and help be a piece to the puzzle the Giants are trying to put together.

Honorable Mention: Joey Votto – The Reds announced that they wouldn’t be renewing Votto’s deal (largest in team history) after a cool 19 years in the organization. I’m still very hopeful that the Reds sign him to a one-year deal so that he can retire as a Red. But if he has to leave, I wouldn’t mind him signing with his hometown Toronto Blue Jays or even possibly a playoff contender so that he can finally play meaningful October baseball again.

Second Base: Looking through the list of free agent second basemen was pretty disappointing. The biggest names were Elvis Andrus and Whit Merrifield (both 35). Don’t get me wrong, great players but I don’t see either of them making a huge impact when they find new teams.

Shortstop: Amed Rosario – One of the best and youngest names on the free agent list Rosario is a career .272 batter with a glove that is next to a sure thing. He had spent multiple seasons with both the Mets and Guardians before he was shipped to the Dodgers late last season before the playoffs. I think that he will end up resigning with the Dodgers as they can probably get him for just over $10 million a year.

Third Base: Matt Chapman – Coming off of an offensively disappointing year where he was still able to secure his fourth Rawlings Gold Glove, Chapman will probably be commanding a relatively high yearly salary. While his offense is much more hit or miss than Nolan Arenado, his defense in the hot corner is undeniable. Under the right circumstances, Chapman could easily be an MVP contender. He has turned down a sizable deal from Toronto already so I don’t anticipate him to be back next year, but I think he would be a great fit with the Giants much like Hoskins. With the Giants looking to be big spenders this offseason, I think two new stars to anchor their infield is more than believable.

Outfield: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. – After a World Series run with Arizona, I would be very very shocked to see the youngest Gurriel brother anywhere but with the snakes in 2024. He has been a beacon of consistency and clutch as he proved this postseason. This will more than likely cost Arizona a decent bit of change but I think it would be well worth it for their future.

Cody Bellinger – After winning National League comeback player of the year, Bellinger looks to be back to his 2019 MVP winning ways. One of the least surprising free agents of the entire class, Bellinger excelled in Wrigley and if it weren’t for possibly the biggest free agent of all time (spoiler) also being available, I would say he’s a shoo in to come back. But I still find it hard to believe he will go anywhere else after finding this success. However, for the sake of predicting something other than him resigning, I could see him ending up in pinstripes as a Yankee in 2024.

Teoscar Hernández – Two seasons removed from his last All-Star appearance, Teoscar looks to have regressed a little over the past couple years. This is not to say he is no longer a good player, but he simply isn’t hitting almost .300 and doesn’t seem to have as much pop as he formerly did. Now, I really like Teoscar, he has all the tools and seems to be universally liked by his teammates! He absolutely should get picked up by someone, and I predict that he will go to Colorado. Plenty of room to roam in the outfield, and the elevation ought to help bring some of the ever-valuable pop back to his game.

Pitchers: Aaron Nola – The ace of the almost National League champs surely set himself up well to finally get paid this season. He had his fifth consecutive full (162 game) season of 200+ strikeouts and was able to contain offenses in the postseason that were very dangerous. As much as I wanted to see him stay in Philly, I thought they missed their chance to ink a long-term deal with him last offseason. I thought Nola would be walking and likely to another contender as a great fit in Seattle. He and Luis Castillo would be a terrifying 1-2 punch. It turns out, he just inked a 7-year deal with the Phillies.

Blake Snell – After possibly his best season to date, Snell will likely be commanding a lot of money with his second career Cy Young. This will certainly limit the teams that are available to go after him, I could easily see Snell getting the eye of a New York team like the Mets. My only concern with him is that the majority of his success this season came after the acquisition of Gary Sanchez. I would almost be willing to bet that if the Padres are open to re-signing both of them, they will stay together.

Sonny Gray – Following his first All-Star appearance since 2019, Gray showed some dominance; despite his 8-8 record he allowed a league leading 0.4 home runs per 9 innings. I think his direction will be super dependent on the direction the Twins are wanting to take. If they feel that they can compete for a championship next year and looking forward, I imagine he would come back. But if Minnesota is looking to dismantle and rebuild, I think Gray would make a lot of sense for St. Louis as a veteran pitcher as the Cardinals have lost a lot of veteran presence over the past few seasons.

Who we all came to hear about: Shohei Ohtani – I mean, its Ohtani. Coming off his second unanimous MVP season in the last three years, the only thing we are able to have a conversation about is how long and where he will go. I think he will be first, looking for a long-term deal, but that will cost substantially more money. I anticipate Shohei getting more than $40 million a year as he is both an elite pitcher and hitter AND is coming off arguably the best baseball season ever played. From everything I have seen and heard, I expect him to (unfortunately for the Reds fan in me) land with the Chicago Cubs. They were finalists in the Shohei sweepstakes the first time around, and now that he has some MLB service under his belt and is more comfortable in the states, I think his only limitation is himself.

2023 MLB World Series Preview

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Caption: Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers meet in the 2023 World Series.

By Ryan Harless

Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.

October 25, 2023

The World Series is finally here. Starting this Friday, the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks will be facing off in a best of seven series to determine the new champions of Major League Baseball. Neither team I predicted to be here made it which is what I love about postseason baseball. The Texas Rangers were a wildcard team and the Diamondbacks won only 84 games this season and here they are, the last 2 teams standing.

This is the first time in postseason history that both world series competitors clinched their berth by winning back-to-back away games (in very hostile environments at that). The Rangers took a 2-0 series lead after winning the first two games in Houston before losing three in a row in Arlington to make the series 3-2 in favor of the Astros. In the last two games, the Rangers outscored the Astros 20-6, dropping the final two games of the series and sending Texas to the World Series.

The Diamondbacks advanced by beating the dominant Phillies in another seven-game series. The D-backs beat the Milwaukee Brewers and L.A. Dodgers en route to the NLCS. In this series, the Phillies took a 2-0 lead after winning the first two games at home. Arizona got back on their feet to tie the series at 2-2 by winning back-to-back games in AZ when everyone counted them out. After dropping the 5th game in the series and making it 3-2 in favor of Philly, the matchup headed back to Pennsylvania. With their backs against the wall, the Diamondbacks outscored the Phillies 9-3 in the last two games to win the NLCS and head to the World Series.

Many people have been complaining about this postseason saying that giving the division leaders extra time off hurt their readiness to play. Personally, I think that’s maybe the worst take of all time. Baseball has the absolute best system set up in order to make sure the best team wins the championship at the end of the season. 162 regular season games and then the possibility of 22 postseason games (including wildcard + max length series). 184 games to determine the best all around team. You must have a coaching staff that manages all the players well, doesn’t overexert anyone, and leverages situations correctly. It is not just the talent on the teams that matter but also the coaching and the fans.

We are going to get to see two teams with a lot to prove battle it out in the Fall Classic this year.

2023 MLB Playoff Predictions: Division Series

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Caption: Playoff Picture as it stands October 7, 2023

By Ryan Harless

Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.

October 7, 2023

It’s finally time for playoff baseball, my favorite time of the whole year. The MLB implemented a new playoff format this season that was supposed to give us a good bit more baseball to watch, but all four of the Wild Card series were two game sweeps with very little drama all around. But now we have moved into the Division Series where all matchups are a best of five. Here’s your guide to what I think will happen in this round of the playoffs.

Texas Rangers vs. Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles have been a true success story this season, winning the American League East for the first time in almost a decade (2014). And in even rarer fashion, have won their division with the same manager who guided their rebuild. The Texas Rangers got here after a truly dominant season where the only in-division competition was the juggernaut Astros (we’ll get to them later). The Rangers decimated the Tampa Bay Rays in their Wild Card series outscoring Tampa 11-1 over two games.

This Rangers team can absolutely swing the bats and with Corey Seager, the statistically best shortstop in the game, staying hot, they will be a true force to be reckoned with. That being said, Baltimore has been one of the most fun teams to watch all season long with their super young core of rising stars. In this series, I feel that the Rangers veteran pitching will truly separate them from Baltimore and allow them to take the series and head to the American League Championship Series. I predict that Texas will win this series in 5 exciting games.

Minnesota Twins vs. Houston Astros

Minnesota defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in decisive fashion in their series with their pitching being relatively dominant throughout the two games. Houston made it to this point by continuing to have a chokehold on the American League West winning the division six of the last seven seasons.

I really like Minnesota and think that they are in a great spot for the future with their pitching being as dominant as it has been. However, this is the Houston Astros, and it is October. If you’ve followed baseball at all for the last few years, you know that Houston turns into something different once the calendar turns over and Fall takes hold. As much as I would love to say that I see the Twins taking this series and going on to the ALCS, I can’t in good faith bet against the Astros in the playoffs. I think the Astros will take this series in 4 games, I think Minnesota may win the first game and then get swept after kicking Houston into gear.

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Atlanta Braves

The Phillies earned the opportunity to take down the dynasty Braves after knocking off the Miami Marlins in their Wild Card matchup. The Atlanta Braves got here by winning 104 games and scoring almost 1,000 runs this season. What can you say about Atlanta that hasn’t already been said? They tied the record set by the 2019 Minnesota Twins for homers in a season by hitting 307 which is averaging 1.895 homers a game over a 162-game season. They had 7 of the starting 9 hit 20+ homers and 5 of those 7 hit more than 30. They have 4 batters with over 100 RBI; oh, and Ronald Acuna Jr. is slashing .337/.416/.596 with 41 homers, 73 stolen bases, and 80 walks. Also don’t forget about their ace Spencer Strider who set a new franchise record for strikeouts in a season with 281 though 186.2 innings.

This is not to say that the Phillies haven’t had a great season. But I just cannot understate how brilliant it has been to watch this Braves team. I expect Atlanta to take this series in 5 games, but I think the Braves will end up outscoring Philadelphia by quite a few runs in the series.

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Both National League matchups in the Division Series are also Division rivals which I think is a SUPER cool touch to this postseason. In the case of this series, I think it makes it more unpredictable. Arizona got here after finishing second in the National League West division to LA, and then beat the Brewers 2-0 in the Wild Card round. Going into the Wild Card round, I anticipated the Brewers to make a playoff run so watching Arizona take them out, gives me a lot more hope for them in this series. The Dodgers are here after winning 100 games and handily taking their division.

I am honestly looking for Arizona to shock the West and continue their unbeaten streak in the playoffs and sweep the Dodgers in three close games.

Of course, baseball is baseball, and it is incredibly tough to predict the outcome of games ESPECIALLY when it’s playoff time. Only time will tell who takes these games and moves on to their respective Championship Series. But I do know, when they come around, I’ll be back to predict their outcomes and see how I did with my predictions!

2023 MLB Breakout Stars in Review

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Caption: Luis Castillo pitching for Seattle this season.

By Ryan Harless

Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.

September 30, 2023

In my previous articles, I reviewed my picks for who would be the breakout star for each team for the 2023 MLB season. I got through three divisions in that one leaving me the other half of the league to discuss. Let’s see how I did.

American League East

Red Sox: Starting off the second half of my reviews are the Boston Red Sox. Boston had a mixed bag of talent entering this season. Some young stars as well as a few established names like Rafael Devers, even after losing shortstop Xander Bogarts in free agency. I chose Triston Casas to be Boston’s breakout star this season and I think he was a good pick. I predicted he would slash .270/.380/.450 with 18-20 homers as well as 80+ RBI. As of today, Casas is slashing .263/.367/.490 with 24 homers and 65 RBI through 132 games. I think he has been able to make a big impact on Boston this year and should be there for years to come.

Orioles: The Baltimore Orioles had a huge crop of talent to choose from that could have been their breakout star. If you’ve followed the Orioles this season, you know the young stars like Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, and Kyle Bradish have all had amazing seasons putting up 4+ WAR around the board. Unfortunately for me, I thought that Grayson Rodriguez would put up great numbers. I predicted that he would go 10-6 with a 2.80 ERA and be getting votes for AL Rookie of the Year. So far this year, Grayson is 7-4 with a 4.35 ERA. A far cry from what I had anticipated, but as is the case with a lot of young pitchers, it takes a few season for them to truly hone their craft and begin to dominate.

Rays: The Rays were another team that gave me lots of options. Thank goodness I didn’t choose Wander Franco. I also considered choosing Shane Baz, but instead I went with Pete Fairbanks, expecting him to be the full time closer for Tampa. I expected him to throw at least 60 innings with a 2.50 ERA and 30+ saves. As of today Fairbanks has thrown 45.1 innings through 49 games, an ERA of 2.58 and 25 saves. I think this pick was another success, he has almost hit the saves mark I set in almost 20 fewer innings than I anticipated and has kept his ERA very close to 2.50.

Blue Jays: For Toronto, I selected an unorthodox pick in the catcher/outfielder combo, Daulton Varsho. He was traded to the Jays in the off-season and I expected him to have a breakout year alongside the other second-generation stars the Blue Jays have (Vladdy, Bichette, and Biggio). Daulton’s father Gary was an outfielder in the MLB for eight seasons and was a coach and manager around the league for another eight. I expected Daulton to bat .265 with 30 homers and at least 25 stolen bases. Looking back, expecting him to be in the 30-30 club was a bit wishful. But Varsho had a decent season, batting .220 with 20 homers and 16 stolen bases. While his average fell a bit flat, his homers and stolen bases give me a good outlook for Varsho’s future in the league.

Yankees: I predicted that Oswald Peraza would have a breakout year for New York and make himself a spot in the Yankee middle infield for many years to come. I expected a slash line of .275/.350/.400 with 50 RBI and no fewer than 25 stolen bases. Peraza had quite a disappointing year, only playing in 47 games to date (a long ways from the 80+ I expected) and is slashing .195/.273/.551 with 14 RBI and only 4 stolen bases.

National League East

Nationals: The Nationals have been bad this year. There’s no other way to say it. But, I looked for starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore to be a high spot for the club to look to. I predicted Gore would throw 150 innings with 200 K’s and an ERA around 3.40. Gore has struggled with going deep in games as well as recently being placed on the 15 day injured list. This season he has thrown 136.1 innings striking out 151 batters along the way with a 4.42 ERA. His K/9 rate has me feeling good about my prediction going forward as I believe Gore just needs more experience at the MLB level to figure out how to lower his ERA.

Marlins: For Miami, I predicted their breakout star to be someone who has struck fear into my heart for over a year with his impossible-to-hit-against card in MLB The Show 22, Edward Cabrera. I expected Cabrera to be a part of a nasty Marlins rotation that never completely came to fruition with 150+ innings, a 14-6 record and an ERA of 3.00. Unfortunately, Cabrera has struggled like most young pitchers do and has a 7-7 record with a 4.24 ERA in only 99.2 innings. He has really had troubles going late into games but I expect that to improve with age.

Phillies: The Phillies have had a great season and at the moment are looking forward to making a playoff run as they have already clinched a spot. I looked for outfielder Brandon Marsh to have his breakout season with them. I predicted Marsh to bat .270 with 130+ hits and to keep his fielding percentage elite. As of now Marsh is batting .276 with 110 hits, and while his fielding has suffered a bit to the tune of 5 errors this season. Nonetheless, Marsh is having a heck of a season and I look for him to become an all-star in the very near future.

Mets: The Mets spent a ton of money this off-season just to be fighting to stay out of last place in September. But, I predicted that one of their new imports, Kodai Senga would have a dominant first season in the MLB and he proved me right. I expected Senga to throw 100 innings with 125 strikeouts and a 2.75 ERA and as of today Senga has thrown 166.1 innings, struck out 202 and held an ERA of 2.98. Senga has probably been my best prediction in this whole series putting up absolute ace-level numbers this season. I think signing him was the best move the Mets made all off-season.

Braves: The Braves are annoyingly good and are going to continue being that way for the foreseeable future, which is unfortunate news for any fan of a team in the National League not from Atlanta. I predicted their 2022 Rookie of the Year winner to continue having a great start to his career and be their breakout star in Michael Harris II and again he did not disappoint. I looked for Harris II to slash .300/.400/.500 with 25 homers and at least 20 bags swiped. So far this season he is slashing .292/.330/.806 with 18 homers and 20 stolen bases on the dot. Now while he hasn’t had quite as good a year as I anticipated, he has been an incredibly valuable piece of one of the most dominant teams of all time in the 2023 Braves.

American League West

Athletics: Oakland, where to start. First and foremost, from every baseball fan we are sorry. I predicted starting pitcher Paul Blackburn to be the breakout star for Oakland this season, looking for him to make 25 starts and go 12-8 with a 3.50 ERA. As of today, Blackburn is 4-7 with a 4.43 ERA through 20 starts. In a season marred with letdowns for the A’s, this was no different.

Rangers: The Texas Rangers have had a great year and have been battling the Astros for first place in the AL West all year long. I predicted catcher Jonah Heim to continue making a name for himself as a premier catcher in the American League. My predictions for Heim in my previous article were that he would play 130 games, have a 30% caught stealing percentage and a 3+ WAR. This season Heim has had a 30% caught stealing percentage, played in 125 games and has a 2.8 WAR. Not to pat myself on the back, but *pat pat pat pat* I think I nailed this one.

Angels: The Angels have been an exciting team to watch as they have had arguably two of the greatest players of all time on the same team – Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. Unfortunately, again, for the team, this was another disappointing season as they look to miss the playoffs. At the beginning of the season, I predicted that Jo Adell would have a breakout season for the Halos. I expected Adell to slash .250/.300/.350 with 18 homers as well as 50 RBI and 20 stolen bases. To date, Adell has a slash line of .208/.263/.581 with 6 RBI and zero stolen bases. Adell has been sidelined for most of the season with an oblique injury which has really dampened his ability to get stats, but as you can see his slash line had him on pace for a really productive season.

Mariners: For Seattle, I predicted that a former Cincinnati Reds player would finally make waves and get his flowers for being as dominant as he has been. Luis Castillo was my selection to breakout for the M’s. I expected Castillo to go 15-3 with a 2.85 ERA in 180 innings, have 200 strikeouts, and win the AL Cy Young award. While his season hasn’t been quite up to those standards, he has had an amazing year nonetheless, going 14-8 with a 3.20 ERA, 194.1 innings and 215 punch-outs. Really the only aspect of my prediction that he didn’t meet was the record and even that is a flawed stat for starting pitchers. He still has a really good chance at winning a Cy Young Award this year.

Astros: The Astros have had another very good season and actually have some competition in their division for the first time in a while as they are currently pushing to keep their wild card spot. The Rangers have a 2.5 game lead over Houston in the division but I still expect the Astros to cause problems in the postseason. I predicted that Chas McCormick would be their breakout player. He is a very good hitter who has proven that he can send the ball to all areas of the field on top of the fact that he has a handy glove in the field. I expected Chas to slash .275/.360/.390 with 8-10 homers and 120 hits and he actually exceeded my expectations. Today he is slashing .278/.359/.499 with 22 homers and 110 hits. He has had a great season and gave me another correct prediction to add to my count.

This has been a hectic baseball season and it’s only going to ramp up for the postseason. I am happy to announce that of the 15 teams here, I believe 8 of my predictions were correct! Adding that to my total from the first half of this retrospective (7), that leaves me with 15/30 correct predictions! And as we all know, if you can bat .300 in the MLB that’s a great career.

2023 MLB Breakout Stars in Review

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By Ryan Harless

Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.

September 17, 2023

Around six months ago, I wrote a series of articles detailing who I believed would be the breakout star for each team in Major League Baseball. Well, here we are in September and the regular season is coming to a swift conclusion. But before we get into the fun and grittiness of playoff baseball, I wanted to look back at those breakout stars I predicted and see how well I did.

National League Central

Pirates: My first pick aged much like milk left outside in the middle of the summer. Only nine games into his 2023 season, Oneil Cruz broke his left fibula causing him to miss the rest of the season. While there were talks about him coming back for a few games at the end of the season, the Pirates decided to keep him shut down so that he can continue to regain his strength and come in to Spring Training 2024 at 100%. Ke’Bryan Hayes probably would have been a better pick for the Pirates as he led the team with a 3.5 WAR.

Reds: My second pick was only marginally better in that Hunter Greene managed to play a few more games than Cruz. Greene was also struck by the injury bug this year, being put in the IL in early June and only returning last month. The Reds, while being a very pleasant surprise, suffered multiple big injuries to their pitching staff which led them to lose more games than they should have. Cincinnati brought up multiple prospects who made massive impacts that I could have chosen. Matt McClain or Elly De La Cruz would have been better choices.

Cubs: I chose Nick Madrigal as my breakout star for Chicago this season, and while he wasn’t the best pick, I think I could have made worse decisions. Madrigal has played 90 games so far and is batting .263 whereas I predicted .280 if he played a full season. This was another team with a lot of surprises. Cody Bellinger has returned to his MVP form, and they may have found their middle infielder of the future in Nico Hoerner.

Brewers: For the Brew Crew, I chose Rowdy Tellez to be their breakout star… BOY was I wrong. In 94 games, Tellez is batting .213 with only 13 homers and 44 RBI. Those numbers placed him far behind the .240 pace with 40 homers and 100 RBI that I so boldly predicted. He is striking out more than twice as much as he is walking which doesn’t bode well when trying to put the ball in play. Their best player has been Corbin Burnes, which is almost to be expected from their ace, as they continue to dominate the NL Central.

Cardinals: I’m pretty sure I got this one right. My selection for the Cardinals breakout star was Lars Nootbaar and I think he lived up to my expectations. He had the second highest WAR on the team only behind Paul Goldschmidt by .1. I predicted he would bat .260 with 20 homers and 80 RBI and as of today he is batting .271 with 13 HR and 67 RBI. I’m happy with that choice.

American League Central

Royals: My pick for the Royals breakout star was Maikel Garcia. This was another pick that I feel pretty good about. He was fifth in WAR on the team, and I predicted that he would bat .270 with 120 hits and 60+ RBI. As of today, he is batting .273 with 113 hits and 49 RBI. I do believe that he will be a part of the Royals infield for many years to come if he is able to keep producing at this level.

Tigers: I selected Akill Baddoo to be the breakout star for Detroit this season. This was a team that had lots of promising young talent from all sides of the ball which made this an especially hard decision. I predicted that Baddoo would bat .280+ with 25 homers and possibly 20 stolen bases, but after a very hot start to the season he cooled off substantially and hasn’t hit any of those marks. Currently he is hitting .223 with 10 homers and 12 stolen bases. A much better choice as the Tigers’ breakout star would have been their young star, Spencer Torkelson.

Twins: For the Minnesota Twins, I chose pitcher Pablo Lopez to be their breakout star. At 27, Pablo was one of the oldest players on this list and had the most big-league experience as well. Nonetheless, he looked primed for a breakout year and that was exactly what we got. I predicted that Lopez would go 16-8 with an ERA of around 3.00. As of today, he is sitting at 10-8 with a 3.58 ERA. So, while he wasn’t able to get quite enough run support to get to 16 wins, he has been a great pitcher for Minnesota. He also got the first All-Star nod of his career this season, so I’m counting this one as a win.

White Sox: The Chicago White Sox were another team with a lot of young talent to choose from when deciding on a breakout performance, and I chose another pitcher in Michael Kopech. I have been a huge fan of his ever since I heard his name in 2017 but injuries have really derailed his career thus far. I predicted that he would have north of 15 wins with a sub 2.75 ERA and 200+ strikeouts (as long as he threw around 200 innings). This was another one that I entirely missed. As of today, Kopech is 5-12 with a 5.47 ERA. The only thing I will take credit for getting right is his K/9IP stat as he has 133 punch-outs through 128.1 innings.

Guardians: For the Guards, I chose Steven Kwan to be their breakout star. I anticipated that he would follow up on his great rookie year and bat over .300 with 175+ hits and 20+ stolen bases. Kwan hasn’t quite lived up to my expectations although he has had a good year regardless. Kwan is batting .275 with 163 hits and 20 stolen bases on the dot.

National League West

Rockies: The Colorado Rockies were a tough team to choose from, there is some promising talent but ultimately it has been another disappointing year for Rockies fans. My prediction for their breakout star was Brendan Rodgers. A former first round pick in 2015, Rodgers has been bitten by the injury bug throughout his career and this year was no different. Only playing in 30 games thus far, Rodgers has been on the shelf for the majority of the season. I predicted him to slash .290/.350/.460 with 20 homers, bring in another Gold Glove, and even receive MVP votes. Through his 30 games played, he is only batting .218.

Diamondbacks: Arizona is another team with lots of young talent to choose from. I landed on Gabriel Moreno as my choice. I anticipated him to split time behind the plate as he has done, and I predicted a .290/.360/.400 slash line and 100 games played. Right now, he has played 98 games and is slashing .276/.325/.407. He is having a great season all around and probably would have been the best bet for breakout Diamondback if not for Rookie of the Year shoo-in Corbin Carroll.

Giants: For San Francisco, I chose a pitcher with some experience similar to that of Pablo Lopez. Entering his fifth year of big-league baseball, Logan Webb was my pick to break out for the Giants. I predicted that he would throw 200+ innings, keep an ERA around 3.00, and punch-out around 140 batters. Right now, Webb has thrown 201 innings and has 183 strikeouts with a 3.31 ERA. He is having another great season, and this is another prediction I would consider a win.

Padres: For the Padres breakout star, I predicted Brent Honeywell Jr. would have his star making season. Unfortunately, that never came to fruition. Honeywell has been relegated to pitching out of the bullpen and is actually no longer even with San Diego as he was sent to the White Sox in a trade. So far this season Honeywell has thrown 52.1 innings with a 4.82 ERA and 45 strikeouts. This was one of the most disappointing picks I made but I think that he can still become a very effective major league pitcher.

Dodgers: I made a relatively easy pick with the Dodgers, choosing their dominant closer from last year Brusdar Graterol. I expected him to throw around 75 innings with 40+ saves and an ERA of around 2.50. Graterol has shown no signs of slowing down from his brilliant last season and is currently at 62.1 innings pitched with only 7 saves, BUT his ERA on the season is a miniscule 1.30 and he is having another phenomenal year.

Looking back at the first half of my predictions, I think I’m 7 for 15 which is a lot better than I had anticipated. In the coming days, I will be wrapping up my retrospective for my 2023 MLB predictions!

The Angels’ Biblical Struggle

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Caption: Shohei Ohtani dawns Samurai headgear and celebrates with teammates after a Home Run.

By Ryan Harless

Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.

August 13, 2023

The Los Angeles Angels decided to pull (arguably) the greatest baseball player of all time off the trading block in what looks to be a statement move. The Angels have shown baseball that they are doing everything they can to get Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout to the playoffs.

On the 27th of July, the Angels announced that they would NOT be trading Ohtani at this year’s deadline. The team then proceeded to acquire pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez as well as two players with past ties to the team in C.J. Cron and Randal Grichuk.

They got all four of these players without having to give up much at all and I think they will all be great late-season pickups for LA. However, simply acquiring these players isn’t going to automatically put the team in first place. They are in a very tough division dealing with both the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros who are currently in first and second place, respectively.

The Angels now sit in fourth place, 12.5 games behind Texas and are six games behind the Seattle Mariners. On top of that, they are 6.5 games back from holding a wild card spot and punching their ticket to the postseason. They trail Tampa Bay, Houston, and Toronto who are all currently in place to get wild card spots as well as Boston and the Yankees who have them by 3 and 4 games respectively.

Now only time will tell if the Angels made the right decision keeping Ohtani for the full year. Some people might be of the opinion that they should have traded Ohtani while they still had control so that they could get something for him. Some might think that they still have a chance for a postseason push, although chances seem to be fading fast.

Many were speculating that a trade deal for Ohtani would be team altering. A team that wanted Ohtani would have more than likely had to give up their top prospects as well as one or two Major League ready players who could fill a roster spot right now. There were very few teams who were willing to make that sort of shift in a franchise and I believe that Angels GM Perry Minasian didn’t want to be remembered as the GM that traded (possibly) the greatest player of all time.

That being said, the biggest question now outside of the will they/won’t they playoff talk, is what team is going to have the funds and ability to pay Shohei Ohtani this offseason?

The Angels seemed to be going into “win now” mode with all of their eggs in the basket for this season, so I would be very surprised to see a resigning. We always have the huge market teams like the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, and San Diego. Especially with the Mets dealing their 40-year-old, $40 million pitcher (Max Scherzer) to the Rangers and their 43.3 million pitcher (Justin Verlander) to the Astros, they could be selling this year to make salary space for the money Ohtani will command.

I think it is entirely reasonable to assume that Shohei will sign the largest contract in baseball history in terms of average yearly salary. I would even venture to say that paying North of $50 million a year would be more than fair. When you think of all that you are getting with Ohtani OUTSIDE of his pure baseball greatness, you realize that he can entirely change the way the baseball world looks at a team.

He is easily the most marketable player in baseball right now, everyone loves him as a person, he has done wonders in bringing Japanese fans to MLB and expanding that market. In terms of being on a team, what more could you ask of a player?

Another aspect of Ohtani that has been overlooked is the fact that he is a two-way player. So, the way I see it, if you sign him to a long-term deal, even if he starts falling off as either a pitcher or a hitter in a noticeable way, he can just stop doing one and focus on the other. Now, obviously that is a decision that is entirely up to Shohei, but I still think it could be an option in the future.

I think the most reasonable outcome of this upcoming offseason would be a team inking Ohtani to a 1–3-year deal. He is still going to take a ton of money a year to play so I can’t see many teams committing to Ohtani at his price for much more than that.

As of today, Ohtani is slashing .302/.403/.680 with a 1.083 OPS, a 187 OPS+, 39 HR, 7 triples, and 66 walks. He is leading MLB in all of those stats minus his .302 average.

As a pitcher he is 9-5 with a 3.43 ERA, 131 ERA+, 156 strikeouts and has only given up 18 HR in 120.2 innings pitched. He is also leading the MLB with 5.9 hits per 9 innings.

He is clearly dominant in all facets of his game. He made this incredibly evident on the 27th of July during an Angels doubleheader. In the first game, Ohtani was the starting pitcher and threw a complete game shutout which is becoming increasingly rare in today’s game. He was hitless in the first game going 0-5 at the plate, but once pitching wasn’t on his mind, he let us know. In the second game of the day, Ohtani hit not one but TWO homers furthering his home run lead over everyone else in Major League Baseball. I was super excited for this trade deadline in the MLB and as exciting as it has been, I am super stoked to get to watch the Shohei sweepstakes unfold over this offseason.