Top 5 A's Relics

In what eventually became a blowout at the hands of the Yankees, the AL Wild Card game took place last night, and a final score of 7-2 sent the Yankees into the ALDS to face the Red Sox, making MLB and major network's dreams come true.

I really have to hand it to the A's on a job well done all season. A team without any elite starters and the lowest payroll in baseball going into 2018 finished the season 97- 65, a record that would've won any division in baseball besides the AL East and West, where they finished 2nd only to the Houston Astros.

For many reasons, I was pulling for the A's to take the Yankees down, but I have to give the Yanks credit where credit is due. When Luis Severino is elite, he's virtually unstoppable, and that's what he was with his 7 strikeouts through 4 innings last night.

Win or lose, I had planned to do this post for the A's right after the Wild Card game results due to them being my favorite team in baseball besides the Red Sox and Cubs. I haven't done one of these posts in a couple weeks, and I had some pretty nice options for the post.

This year, the A's shocked everyone and reminded many of the Swingin' A's from the 1970's. A lot of the relic cards on this list are of those guys. Now, here they are starting with a key pitcher on these legendary A's teams.

#5 2007 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Ultimate Star Materials Rollie Fingers

When looking up the card on COMC to find the correct name, I saw a powder blue jersey version likely from Fingers' days with the Brewers. Even though I find the color cool, I much prefer a jersey swatch that actually makes sense for the team he's on. This slightly dirty plain white jersey is something that, although simple, works for this card. In fact, the only thing I don't like about the card is Fingers not having his mustache in the photo. Realistically speaking, how can you make a Rollie Fingers card and not choose a photo where he has a mustache?

#4 2002 Fleer Fall Classic October Legends Jerseys Dennis Eckersley

Though the gold border isn't intended to match the A's team colors, it does a nice job of complimenting the rest of the card. In addition to everything else going on, from the Fleer logo to A's logo and the October Legends symbol, the main thing that draws my attention is the jersey swatch which appears to be from a 1980's dark green A's home jersey. One of 3 A's pitchers to have their relics make the list, the Eckersley relic card definitely stands its own.

#3 2003 Topps Tribute World Series Tribute Relics Catfish Hunter

Numbered 229/425 on the back, this Topps Tribute relic from 2003 may look like it has a sunset background when scanned, but it's more of a super shiny refractor when you see it in-person. Not only do I love the shininess of it, but the design is carefully put together with an excellent photo choice in the bottom left corner, showing Catfish in the colorful gold Oakland A's jersey. Like the Fingers relic, I only have 1 complaint and that's half the year "1972" being a relic and the other half being the standard font. It looks a little odd to have it be half and half.

#2 2016 Topps Gypsy Queen Relics Rickey Henderson

Similar to how I was able to look past the plain white jersey swatch on the Rollie Fingers relic card, I was able to do the same for this Rickey Henderson relic from the 2016 Topps Gypsy Queen set. Though this relic is even more simple than any of the ones before, the elegant GQ design and the reoccurrence of the colorful uniforms help me to see the card as a whole and not just 1 minor detail that I'm not crazy about. 

Given that Gypsy Queen no longer makes relic cards, our chances to acquire relic cards of players like Henderson went down after 2016, so having as many relics of players like him is definitely a major plus.

#1 2002 Upper Deck Vintage Special Collection Joe Rudi

With gold and green taking up a great deal of this Joe Rudi relic, it almost seems like the card design was chosen especially to complement the A's team colors. The black and white image was definitely an interesting choice, but my favorite part would have to be the relic swatch being shaped in an "A" just like on their caps and jerseys back when outfielder Joe Rudi played. 

Everything that I've come to love about relic cards is well-represented with the 5 I chose for the list. Even though fewer and fewer brands are making them, I'm still picking them up at every chance I get, because it's my only shot to get memorabilia cards of players from this era that I've grown to appreciate.

2018 Red Sox Player Reviews Part 2

Picking up where I left off with Monday's post, I'm continuing to review player performances from key members of the 2018 Boston Red Sox team. This time, it's the pitchers' turn to get their overall performances assessed just like I did for the position players a couple days ago.

For a team to finish 1st in their division, there has to be a strong balance. What I mean by this is that there must be equally strong position players as there are hitters. In the case of the 2018 Sox, they had a strong balance between talented hitters and pitchers, which translated to a successful season.

For Boston's position players, I set the limit at 300 at-bats in order to receive a grade so the post doesn't drag on and I can assess everyone fairly. In the case of the pitchers, I've decided that in order to be included in this post, they have to have pitched at least 60 innings this season. After setting that limit, I discovered that 10 pitchers met those requirements. 

Without any further adieu, here they are. I'll be starting off with the pitcher with the most innings pitched, Rick Porcello.

2 years removed from the best season of his career and 1 year removed from the worst, Rick Porcello was pretty average in 2018, and that's a very good thing because, with run support, being average becomes all the better. His 4.28 ERA through 191 innings pitched wouldn't strike you as something that could earn you 17 wins, but his 190 strikeouts in those innings speak for themselves. This year, Rick Porcello definitely improved from 2017, and because the Red Sox also got better, his 4.28 ERA is fine by me.

Letter Grade; B-

After failing to pitch even 75 innings in 2017 due to injury, Price returned for a healthy 2018 in which he had his best season since joining the Boston Red Sox in 2016. While having roughly the same strikeout tendencies as Porcello (177 K's in 176 innings), David Price backed up his knockouts with an excellent 3.58 ERA. All in all, 2018 was easier for Price after the media circus involving him and Dennis Eckersley died down and he was back to 100%. He's been steadily improving in Boston for years, and I'm very excited about what 2019 will bring him.

Letter Grade; B/B+

If not for a reoccurring injury that sidelined the 7-time All-Star lefty, he'd have the AL Cy Young award all but locked up. Instead, it's looking like it will (deservingly) go to the Rays' star pitcher Blake Snell. However, Sale's 2.11 ERA through 158 innings pitched this year cannot be ignored, nor can his 237 strikeouts and .86 WHIP during that time as well.

In his 2nd season as a member of the Red Sox, Sale dazzled once again and definitely earned himself some Cy Young votes. However, his missing of time due to injury combined with how Snell dominated all season makes the AL Cy Young award race quite different from what we originally thought it would be. 

Letter Grade; A

Like Chris Sale, Eduardo Rodriguez was sidelined for over a month this season due to injury, limiting his innings pitched to just 130. However, even while missing numerous starts, Eduardo Rodriguez seemed to finally have the breakout season we thought he was capable of 4 years after being traded to the Red Sox as a prospect in the Andrew Miller trade. He maintained a steady ERA for most of the season, only faltering in his last couple starts. Moreover, E-Rod learned how to control his pitch count while still striking out 146 batters this year.

Letter Grade; B-/B

The role of a 5th starter was one that the Red Sox struggled to fill all season due to injuries to E-Rod, Drew Pomeranz, Steven Wright, and Chris Sale that combined to take up a lot of time. For the majority of the year, Boston relied on Brian Johnson to serve as a backup starter and long reliever, and he fits this role very well. In 99 innings pitched, the most in a season of his career by far, Johnson fanned a respectable 87 batters and kept his ERA at a solid 4.17. 

Considering what was asked of him and how uncertain his role as a member of the team could be at any time, I was impressed with what I saw from Johnson this year.

Letter Grade; C+

A pickup from the Mexican League last season, Red Sox pitcher Hector Velazquez served basically an identical role to Brian Johnson throughout the 2018 season. Though he pitched fewer innings (85) and struck out fewer men (53), Velazquez held a steady 3.18 ERA that ended up being a huge help for Boston as he was responsible for 7 of the team's wins in 47 appearances ranging from facing a batter or two all the way up to full-on starts.

Letter Grade; B-

In a way, I was hoping Drew Pomeranz fell short of 60 innings pitched so he could be spared. On the other hand, a pitcher with just 74 innings pitched under his belt was responsible for 6 losses and a 6.08 ERA, so I don't feel too bad. To make it simple, Drew Pomeranz was horrendous in his 2018 contract year with the Red Sox, and that was pretty disappointing given his 17 wins and 3.32 ERA last year made him 2nd only to Chris Sale in the 2017 Red Sox rotation.

Pomeranz would struggle every time he went into a game, and I'm not exaggerating one bit. Quite frankly, he didn't seem like he belonged on a baseball field in 2018. Let me assure you, he really was bad.

Letter Grade; D/D-

Though he became quite iconic during the infamous Red Sox vs Yankees brawl back in April, Joe Kelly never seemed to find his groove again in the later months of 2018. For the first few weeks, Kelly appeared to be unstoppable and was suspected to be the new set-up man for Boston's closer and my favorite player, Craig Kimbrel. However, his 4.39 ERA on the year, including an 8.31 earned run average in his last 7 appearances didn't do him any favors, especially when it comes to making the postseason roster.

Letter Grade; C

It's pretty ridiculous to call a 2.74 ERA with 96 strikeouts in 62 innings pitched a "down year" for All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel. But compared to 2017, it kind of was. Last season, Craig posted an insane 1.43 ERA with 35 saves and 126 K's through 69 innings. Although his saves total went up to 42, his 2.74 ERA is the 2nd highest single-season total of his career, trailing only the standout 3.40 earned run average posted back in 2016, his first year in Boston.

Letter Grade; B+/A-

Because Boston's bullpen lacked any other strong contenders for the role of set-up man, it was up to Matt Barnes to take on this role for the 3rd year in a row, and he's been gradually getting better each year since his debut back in late 2014. This time around, Barnes posted a 3.65 ERA with 96 strikeouts in 61 innings pitched. That's right, in practically the same number of innings pitched as Craig Kimbrel, Barnes posted the same number of K's.

While I'm praying for Craig to stay so Barnes can remain the set-up man and our bullpen can have their strongest pitcher, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing Barnes take on the closer role if he has to. I think he proved he's a capable reliever in 2018, so this would officially be the next step for him.

Looking Back At My 2018 Predictions

I originally had intentions to do this exact post yesterday afternoon which was when the divisions were supposed to be locked up and the postseason field was supposed to be set.

However, my years of watching baseball have taught me to expect the unexpected at all times. Still, I don't think anybody foresaw 2 tiebreaker games taking place yesterday to determine the winners of the NL Central and the NL West, but that's exactly what happened. 

The Brewers locked up the NL Central with a 3-1 win over the Cubs in Chicago, much to my chagrin. The Cubbies get to stay right where they are as they're set to play the Rockies, who lost to the Dodgers 5-2, tonight in the NL Wild Card game.

With the postseason officially underway tonight, I thought I'd look back at what my original 2018 MLB predictions were from all the way back in early March. Going into today, I hadn't looked at these since I created them, and there a bound to be some predictions that'll make me scratch my head at what exactly I was thinking when I made these predictions 7 months ago.

I have 6 divisions to cover today along with Award Winners predictions that are almost certainly not going to pan out come November when they're announced, so I'll likely just stick to the division predictions. Starting with the AL East, let's see how I did.

AL East

Original Predictions;

1st Place; New York Yankees

2nd Place; Boston Red Sox

3rd Place; Tampa Bay Rays

4th Place; Baltimore Orioles

5th Place; Toronto Blue Jays

2018 Final Standings

1st Place; Boston Red Sox

2nd Place; New York Yankees

3rd Place; Tampa Bay Rays

4th Place; Toronto Blue Jays

5th Place; Baltimore Orioles

I can't say I was all that close with the AL East, but I also had very good reasoning for picking the Yankees back in March with the significance of the Giancarlo Stanton trade fresh in many people's minds. It was hard to pick them over Boston, but it was thrilling to see the season the Red Sox had and watch them prove me wrong. I got the Rays right, but I had more faith in the Orioles than I should've given their dismal 47-115 record to end the season.

AL Central

Original Predictions;

1st Place; Cleveland Indians

2nd Place; Minnesota Twins

3rd Place; Kansas City Royals

4th Place; Chicago White Sox

5th Place; Detroit Tigers

2018 Final Standings

1st Place; Cleveland Indians

2nd Place; Minnesota Twins

3rd Place; Detroit Tigers

4th Place; Chicago White Sox

5th Place; Kansas City Royals

When you have 3 teams finishing the year with a win percentage under .400, you have a recipe for the easiest division in baseball today and one of the easiest divisions we've seen in many years. This meant that it was pretty easy to get 1st and 2nd place correct, but it was the final 3 teams that I struggled on. A simple switch of the Tigers and Royals back in March would've made this division perfect, but I really did come awfully close on this one.

AL West

Original Predictions; 

1st Place; Houston Astros

2nd Place; Seattle Mariners

3rd Place; Los Angeles Angels

4th Place; Texas Rangers

5th Place; Oakland Athletics

2018 Final Standings

1st Place; Houston Astros

2nd Place; Oakland Athletics

3rd Place; Seattle Mariners

4th Place; Los Angeles Angels

5th Place; Texas Rangers

I realize it was easy to over-hype the Angels and disregard the A's, but it kind of makes you feel stupid when a team finished the year with a .599 win percentage that you predicted to finish last in the division. I'm happy that I saw the Angels less than spectacular season coming and the improvement of the Mariners as well, but I can't get over that I actually thought that "the A's are an absolute mess praying for that one young player to save their franchise.

Don't believe me? Check out my AL West predictions.

NL East

Original Predictions;

1st Place; Washington Nationals

2nd Place; Philadelphia Phillies

3rd Place; New York Mets

4th Place; Atlanta Braves

5th Place; Miami Marlins

2018 Final Standings;

1st Place; Atlanta Braves

2nd Place; Washington Nationals

3rd Place; Philadelphia Phillies

4th Place; New York Mets

5th Place; Miami Marlins

Among the many statements that were later proven false in my NL East division predictions, some of the highlights included that the Nationals would have no trouble winning the division and that the Braves would experience another year of rebuilding. Granted, it was hard to see this level of success coming for Atlanta, but it seems ridiculous to have them as far off as 4th. The Nationals only reached 2nd place in the last couple weeks. Before then, the Phillies seemed to have secured the 2nd spot in the NL East. And the Marlins did what they were expected to do. Nothing more nothing less.

NL Central

Original Predictions; 

1st Place; Milwaukee Brewers

2nd Place; Chicago Cubs

3rd Place; St. Louis Cardinals

4th Place; Cincinnati Reds

5th Place; Pittsburgh Pirates

2018 Final Standings;

1st Place; Milwaukee Brewers

2nd Place; Chicago Cubs

3rd Place; St. Louis Cardinals

4th Place; Pittsburgh Pirates

5th Place; Cincinnati Reds

It didn't feel good to be right about the winner of the NL Central, but I had a feeling the Cubs' reign couldn't last forever, especially when they lost Jake Arrieta to free agency and Kris Bryant missed almost half of the season. Despite that, the NL Central has been my most accurate division so far, having only the 4th and 5th place teams wrong. If I had just flipped the Pirates and Reds back in March, who ended up being many games apart, I could've had a perfect NL Central division prediction.

NL West

Original Predictions;

1st Place; Los Angeles Dodgers

2nd Place; Arizona Diamondbacks

3rd Place; Colorado Rockies

4th Place; San Francisco Giants

5th Place; San Diego Padres

2018 Final Standings;

1st Place; Los Angeles Dodgers

2nd Place; Colorado Rockies

3rd Place; Arizona Diamondbacks

4th Place; San Francisco Giants

5th Place; San Diego Padres

Just like the AL Central and NL Central, it was the incorrect placement of 2 teams that, if swapped, would've made my predictions 100% accurate. This time, the Rockies and Diamondbacks who were neck-and-neck for most of the last 2 seasons, were the 2 teams that I predicted incorrectly. After yesterday's tiebreaker, the Rockies officially finished 2nd and the Diamondbacks secured 3rd place days before. As for the rest of the division, I didn't have to think too much about those teams.

Even though I was pretty far off in some divisions, I was 1 swap away from perfection in 3 of the divisions which would've made my predictions 50% correct. It definitely benefited me to look back at what I did wrong as well as to see what teams already seem primed for a successful 2019 season.

2018 Red Sox Player Reviews Part 1

Yesterday was the 162nd and final regular season game for the Boston Red Sox in what proved to be a truly historic season. 

In a game that I was fortunate enough to see in-person, the Sox bested the Yankees 10-2 to secure their 108th victory of the year. 

Now, we're all turning our attention to see what the Red Sox and all the other playoff teams will do in the 2018 postseason.

I had to hold off on my division predictions recap until Wednesday due to the 2 tiebreaker games taking place today. As I'm writing this, the Cubs just lost a tough game to the Brewers, meaning the 2nd best team in the NL has to play in the Wild Card game while the best get home-field advantage for the entire playoffs. 

Sometimes I really dislike the way MLB playoff teams are seeded. It should really be 5 teams by record with the bottom 2 in the Wild Card game.

Regardless, I'm here today to recognize and recap the major contributors to the 2018 Boston Red Sox offense with the pitchers' version of this post set to come out tomorrow. Basically, I'll be looking at players' stats and then giving them a letter grade based on their 2018 season performance. In an effort to save time and not go too crazy, I'll only be posting players with 300 or more at-bats.

As far as 250 at-bat players go, the Red Sox had 9 players that fell into that category, so it's time for me to get started. First up, we have the player who led the Red Sox team in at-bats with 579.

In his 2nd full MLB season, Andrew Benintendi wasn't needed to provide as much power as he did with the 2017 Red Sox. With the absence of a true slugger in 2017, Benintendi hit 20 home runs with a .274 average last year. It seems J.D. Martinez's presence has had an effect on everybody, and that includes Benny. He hit 16 homers and 87 RBI this season while also launching 41 doubles. Additionally, Benny was able to do all of this while improving his average to .290. In a year where the Sox had plenty of offensive help, Benintendi found a way to contribute big time without being the primary offensive contributor. 

Letter Grade; B+

Next up, we have the guy whose presence in the clubhouse alone was able to help nearly every player improve on the offensive level. In addition to Mookie Betts calling him "one of the greatest things that have ever happened to him," J.D. had an MVP-caliber season. The slugger hit an incredible .330 with 43 home runs and 130 RBI. He finished the 2018 season top 2 in each of those 3 categories while also finishing 5th in OBP, 2nd in SLG, and 3rd in OPS. Although Mookie played slightly better all-around, Martinez's astounding offensive accomplishments cannot be overlooked.

Letter Grade; A+

The best way to bounce back from a sub-par 2017 season in which you hit .264? Improve all the way to a .346 batting average while also nabbing the batting title and setting a personal record for home runs in a season. Mookie being a leadoff hitter took a toll on his RBI total which reached 80 this year, but his 47 doubles and 180 total hit are is enough to speak for itself not to mention his 30 stolen bases, making him the 2nd player in Sox history with 30 homers and 30 stolen bags in 1 year.

Letter Grade; A+

At the beginning of this season, I recall saying that my ideal stats for Xander Bogaerts would be a .280 average with 20 homers and 80 RBI. Bogaerts not only reached these goals but impressed me and the rest of Red Sox nation alike with his offense in defense in 2018. In 513 at-bats, Xander hit .288 with 23 home runs and 103 RBI, making him one of two Red Sox to reach 100 runs batted in. His 45 doubles impressed without a doubt, and he even won AL Player of the Week back in July. But it was Xander's overall athleticism that made 2018 a bounce-back season for the star shortstop.

Letter Grade; A

Sorry, I haven't been able to pull a Nunez card from his time with the Red Sox quite yet since he's only been featured in 1 or 2 products since joining Boston. Anyway, I don't think many people expected Nunez to have the type of impact on the 2018 Red Sox that he did, for many thought Pedroia would return and that would be that for Eduardo. However, Pedroia's playing of just 3 games allowed Nunez to have over 450 at-bats with the Sox this year. His veteran leadership is valued throughout the clubhouse, and his 44 RBI helped contribute to an already dynamite offense.

Letter Grade; C+/B-

Even though he drove in 59 and had an excellent offensive 2nd half of the year, 2018 did not deliver good offensive production from Jackie Bradley Jr. His .234 batting average can attest for that, but there's more to JBJ than just that average. He had yet another stellar defensive season and is once again a front-runner for AL Gold Glove. Even if his offense is adequate at best, I think we can all agree that Bradley's defense is something you don't see every day.

Letter Grade; C

Despite having some flashes of brilliance, Rafael Devers' first full MLB season did not necessarily go according to plan. He ended the year with 450 at-bats due to being injured, but he also hit just .240. Granted, his 21 homers were a big plus and he drove in 66 with limited playing time, but I've come to expect more from Devers, especially after what I saw last year. He struck out over 100 times which is a lot, especially for his at-bat total, and he didn't do enough to stand out on this stacked team. 

The good news for Devers is that he's only 21 and he definitely had some great moments this season and a ton of upside in general. I'll be looking at him more than anyone else to see how he does once 2019 rolls around.

Letter Grade; C/C+

I'm trying to take the first half of the season into consideration as much as I can when it comes to Mitch Moreland. After all, he made the All-Star team, and deservingly so back in July, but he's basically hit .200 since then. However, he does provide another much-needed veteran presence and is a Gold Glove-type defensive 1st baseman. He ended the year hitting .245 with 15 homers, but he did provide 68 RBI in barely 400 at-bats, so there's definitely something to say about what Moreland can bring to the table when he's playing his best.

Letter Grade; C+

His recent heroics such as a pinch-hit home run still fresh in my mind, I'm sure Brock Holt isn't too upset being a backup player on this Red Sox team. After all, he finished the year with 321 at-bats which is the most since 2015 when he was a starter. He provided a reasonable 7 homers, including 4 in his last 30 games, along with 46 RBI and 7 stolen bases. All of this while hitting .277 and playing a superb defensive 2nd base, shortstop, and left field throughout the year.

Letter Grade; B-

Although I would be able to form a starting 9 with the players above, there was not a single Red Sox catcher with 300 or more at-bats which is alarming that Vazquez, Leon, and Swihart get injured so much and that none of them have been all too good this year. Still, I couldn't include everyone, so I felt setting the limit at 300 at-bats was fair. 

Tomorrow, I'll be doing the same thing for the pitchers that, for better or worse, made a difference for the Red Sox in 2018.