Today, we talk about the Yankees’ return to villainy, spotlight Colton Cowser, and look at which teams are already done. But first, three stories to know:
As we all expected, the Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City Royals rank third and fourth in MLB in runs scored.
Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, surrendered to authorities on Friday and this newsletter.
The song of the summer is here, and it’s by a dude named Joey Copponi.
American League: Empire Rising
We have a new villain, and it turns out it’s the old villain. If you hate the New York Yankees, you may be in for a love/hate relationship with the 2024 season. The Bombers have the best record in baseball, so perhaps it’s time to begrudgingly admit that baseball is more fun when we’re all rooting against the Yankees.
The Royals kept rolling this weekend, taking two of three from the New York Mets following a sweep of the Houston Astros. It’s hard to call Kansas City the favorites in the central, but they've at least been the most interesting team in a messy division.
Will this be the weekend we point to as the beginning of the Astros’ turnaround? The pitching staff is broken, literally and figuratively, but they’ve also been a bit unlucky and nobody in the division has a winning record.
National League: Brewers…Brewing?
The Brewers rank third in MLB in both home runs and runs. Are you shocked? I am. Like the Royals in the American League, Milwaukee is cementing itself as the Most Interesting Team in the Central, if nothing else. Sorry Pirates.
The Miami Marlins managed to beat the Atlanta Braves once this weekend. The Philadelphia Phillies are just okay right now. The Mets are 7-3 in their last 10 games, but are under .500. It feels like nobody in National League East is clicking yet.
Sometimes, the April vibes just feel right. In the west, the Arizona Diamondbacks have been a bit unlucky and beat the St. Louis Cardinals twice this weekend, but the Los Angeles Dodgers are in first place, and that just feels right.
Taking Stock: Cooked Geese
We support outdated idioms here. So, we’re using the Goose-ometer to determine which teams are already done for the year. So far, we have three teams. Sorry, but you can carve these turkeys.
Apologies for the mixed metaphors, but these geese are cooked.
🪿 Chicago White Sox 🪿
With all due respect to the next team, the White Sox are the worst team in baseball. With a -51 run differential, and some truly unwatchable lineups featuring Kevin Pillar hitting cleanup, I’m confident Chicago is going to lose well over 100 games this year.
🪿 Miami Marlins 🪿
The Marlins have a 4-11 Pythagorean W-L record, which means they’ve been unlucky—by one game. Miami is 3-11, has one hitter with an OPS+ over 100 (Nick Gordon, 111 OPS+), and a struggling, injury-ravaged pitching staff.
And eternally weird vibes. The Marlins feel like a fake franchise created for a movie that was accidentally allowed to play Major League Baseball. From the stadium to the uniforms to the play on the field—it all looks like made-up nonsense.
🪿 Colorado Rockies 🪿
The Rockies close out this little exercise, for now. It’s hard to know what to do with this franchise. Ryan McMahon, Charlie Blackmon, Brenton Doyle, and Ezequiel Tovar have all had good-to-decent offensive starts, but only Tovar is a realistic building block at 22 years old.
This team has been stuck for years, and most farm system rankings have them in the middle of the pack, at best. It’s just hard to figure this franchise out.
Player Spotlight: Colton Cowser
The Baltimore Orioles are experts at developing prospects. The franchise might be cloning, frankly, Given their players are mostly Beautiful Blonde Boys With Offensive Upside (BBBWOUs).
When Jackson Holliday was called up from AAA, for example, he had a 1.077 OPS, and that was 6th on the team.
The Major League roster now includes Holliday, Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg, and Colton Cowser.
Cowser is different in that he generally is considered to have a little less upside than some of the others. And he’s not blonde. But, he just had a monster week and currently has a 1.445 OPS with 4 Home Runs.
Most of the damage has come in the last week, so it may just be a hot streak, but the Orioles are a good, young, fascinating team that may be at the beginning of a dynasty.
They also have sweet jerseys and play in one of the best stadiums in baseball. Just sayin.
Reading Nook
Two must-reads at Fangrpahs this week:
Ben Clemens wrote how stolen bases aren’t on the rise this year. It’s an interesting story, especially if, like me, you expected the opposite.
This story by Michael Baumann is an excellent piece on the relationship between MLB and gambling in the wake of the Shohei Ohtani situation.