American
League East
Lets
continue from where we left off and take a look at the AL East.
Toronto Blue Jays:
Pitching- At first looks this seems
like a team with a lot of potential, and it is but it’s the ceiling of that
potential that worries me. The
main thing I see wrong with this team is just a lack of strong front line
starters. Each of the big names
they have don’t actually pan out to be front line starters R.A Dickey is a good
pitcher but isn’t an ace that the team was hoping to have, according to the
Seidman Starting Pitcher Effectiveness Model Dickey only ranked as a mid 2nd
starter and not a true number 1.
This could be an issue unless Dickey can return to what he was 2 years
ago which isn’t likely but if he stays what he is now then getting a true
number 1 will help the pitching a lot.
Brandon Morrow needs to stay healthy and needs to limit the walks and he
could be another great number 2 starter but again the team needs an ace. Though the team does have strength in
the bullpen, which has many solid pitchers like Casey Janssen, Jeremy
Jefferess, Steve Delabar and Brett Cecil make a good core of relievers. Delabar and Cecil were both surprises
last year and if they can keep strong they can help the bullpen keep going
strong. Overall better than you
would have feared and worse than you’d hope. Middle of the road is best way to put it but with a good
bullpen they could be a surprise with the right piece.
Batting-A strong lineup that had a
few too many underperformers basically defines the year last year for the
Jays. Jose Reyes was a great
addition to the team and is still a great leadoff hitter and with hitters like
Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion behind him adds a lot of pop to the
lineup. Melky Cabrera needs to
have a bounce back season and Adam Lind needs to work on hitting LHP to make
the team stronger. The wild card
will be Brett Lawrie, a player that seems to get a lot hate that doesn’t
deserve it. If Lawrie can hit like
we know he can he will be a major offensive force for the team. Overall I say this lineup can turn
heads when its on but they have to watch out that many of the better hitters
are not without flaws and could end up hurting them.
Baltimore Orioles:
Pitching-What a disappointment for
the pitching last year and this year they did seem to fix one area but it
wasn’t the major weakness. The
starting pitching on this team is in worse shape than the Blue Jays but has
more upside than the Jays pitching does.
Kevin Gausman, Chris Tillman and Wei-Yin Chen are the teams best and
very arguably played over their heads.
While I have confidence that Gausman and his partner in the minors Dylan
Bundy will hit their potential Tillman only has 1 season of plus level pitching
and he ranks as a mid level #2 pitcher last year. Once again they don’t have a defined ace but unlike the Jays
they have guys like Gausman and Bundy have a chance to change this in the near
future. The bullpen was the
strength 2 years ago but last year was a flop, they’ve made a few moves to try
and get it back to what it was but its got some mix results. Darren O’Day is a good signing but
isn’t an end of game guy just a very solid middle relief guy. This is kind of the problem with the
bullpen in general; good middle relief guys but not door closers. Overall I say weak but bright future
needs an ace and a back end guy to be a good pitching staff.
Batting-Has a very solid lineup
with guys like Adam Jones and Chris Davis in the lineup. It has a lot of power to fall back on
and with Manny Machado developing the way he is he could be a middle of the
lineup guy in the very near future.
Not to leave out Matt Wieters who is one of baseballs better hitting
catchers, not a major avg. guy but he has good power. The team has weaknesses though, and the problems lie in if
some of these players being able to repeat, namely Chris Davis. If he can repeat even just a bit of
what he did last year then the team can go far. Overall they have a lot of potential and could go far but
its up to a few guys to repeat to make it a great offense.
Tampa Bay Rays:
Pitching-Easily one of the best
staffs in all of baseball and they doesn’t have many weaknesses. David Price is easily one of the best
pitchers in the game even while having a off year last year he should bounce
back to be the ace we know.
Pitchers like Matt Moore, Chris Archer and Alex Cobb look poised to have
a strong year that will really test hitters in both leagues. Their bullpen has improved but getting
rid of Fernando Rodney and upgrading to Grant Balfour as their new closer and
retaining guys like Joel Peralta and Jake McGee will defiantly make the bullpen
a strong force for any team to fight.
Overall this team has so many weapons that are getting better every year
and is this teams major strength.
Batting-The Rays have a decent
lineup but as a team they never seem to be able to hit at the same time. Evan Longoria and Wil Myers are the two
best hitters on this team and they have a lot of potential. But there are risks to both since
Longoria hasn’t really been healthy for the last few years and his inability to
hit for a high average seems to be an issue for him. If this is the year he pulls everything together he’s easily
the best 3B hitter in baseball. Wil
Myers is young and this will be his first full season so we shall see how he
adjusts to pitchers adjusting to him.
The other staples of this team are still there but many have the same
issues as Longoria, can hit but for some reason go into some major slumps. Overall could be a dangerous lineup but
they need to stay consistent to do any damage in the long run.
Boston Red Sox:
Pitching-A team that has a few too
many question marks, yes they are the World Series Champs but that doesn’t mean
the pitching is getting better.
Many of the pitchers are getting up in age and are already past their
primes. Jon Lester is still the
best they have and it’s a good bet he will be able to keep up the pace he set
last year but the rest of the rotation may not be so lucky. John Lackey, Jake Peavy and Felix
Doubront all have the chance to be very good but all of these pitchers have had
better season than they had last year and all rank as number 4 guys. The teams hopes really rely on Clay
Buchholz coming back from his injury plagued season after starting off so hot. If he does Lester and Buchholz could
lead this rotation to victory. The
bullpen has its strengths but is much like the rotation with its question
marks. Koji Uehara will return as
the closer for the team and as much as I think he can do fine it will be his
first full season as a closer and combined with his age/work load might catch
up with him. Edward Mujica was a
great pitcher in the beginning of the 2013 season but he fell off late in the
season so we need to find out if he can bounce back from last season. Andrew Miller and Junichi Tazawa will
be good to decent pitchers for the team but in Miller’s case I don’t expect too
much. Overall a good staff but its
not as strong as Tampa’s though to be fair not many teams can match
Tampa’s. They will be successful
if they can stay healthy the entire season, which was a major issue last year.
Batting-Still strong but the loss
of Jacoby Ellsbury is going to hurt the production no matter how you slice
it. This doesn’t mean the team is
a pushover they still have some strong bats in Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz,
both of which will be strong assets to the team just like always. Mike Napoli is a good hitter and will
add the power the team needs in the middle of the lineup. The team has a lot of interesting
players that can make a strong impact: Mike Carp, Brock Holt, Jackie Bradley Jr.
and Xander Bogaerts could make a big difference for the team. Overall this team doesn’t look like
they have a strong lineup but its deceiving how much talent they have. They still may have the best lineup in
the division.
New York Yankees:
Pitching-This is the team I’m sure
everyone was waiting to hear about and I’ll just come out and say it right
now. No Masahiro Tanaka is not
going to be the new ace of the team, from what I can find on him since
information is limited on him.
From what I’ve seen about him he has a mid 90’s fastball that stays
around 92-93 on average and uses very nasty off-speed pitches like his split
finger to get guys out. He
profiles as a number three starter at the moment. We have to see how he manages in a new league in a new
country. As for the rest of the
rotation it’s actually quite strong with C.C Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda at the
top and having Ivan Nova behind Tanaka makes a great 4 starters. The fifth spot will be fought over by David
Phelps and Michael Pineda both could do the job but Pineda has the upside. The bullpen is in good shape even with
Mariano Rivera is gone. David
Robertson is a great pitcher and will fill in for Rivera admirably. Signing Matt Thornton gives them another
good relief option. The team could
use a few more good relief options after them but the team should survive as
long as the starters do their jobs.
Overall this is a mixed bag of pitching; while the starters are great
the relief is just ok. The starting
pitching is actually the 2nd best in the division and one of the
better in the league, while not the best of the bunch they are in the top 5.
Batting-With the signing of Carlos
Beltran and Jacoby Ellsbury make the outfield one of the stronger ones in
baseball. Throw Brett Gardner into
the mix its easily the one of the better defensive outfields in the game. The infield however is not as lucky,
Derek Jeter is getting older, Alex Rodriguez is suspended for the next year, Mark
Teixeira is not nearly as potent a hitter as he was in his prime and that makes
Kelly Johnson one of the more consistent hitters? That’s just wrong.
It can defiantly be better than it looks like on paper but the OF is
going to have to carry the team this year. Overall the offense is not as good as the pitching but its
good enough to get the team a good amount of wins.
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