2016 Silver Slugger Awards

The 2016 Silver Slugger award winners were announced Thursday night on MLB Network. While the Gold Glove Awards given out on Tuesday focused on the defensive side of baseball, the Silver Slugger awards are given annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League.

Marking the 37th annual Silver Slugger awards, which began in 1980, the awards are voted on by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball (managers can not vote for their own players), with voters considering several offensive categories in selecting the winners. Those categories include batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage, in addition to coaches’ and managers’ general impressions of a player’s overall offensive value.

Barry Bonds’ 12 career Silver Slugger awards stand as the most all-time by a single player at any position, and no one from this season’s winners are even close. Here are the list of winners with my thoughts on each:

OUTFIELD

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Barry Bonds holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as an outfielder, with twelve.

NL Winners – Charlie Blackmon (1st career), Christian Yelich (1st career) and Yoenis Cespedes (1st career)

AL Winners – Mark Trumbo (1st career), Mookie Betts (1st career) and Mike Trout (5th career)

For Mike Trout, it was business as usual on Thursday, as he won his fifth career Silver Slugger award — having done so in all of his full seasons in the big leagues. For the other five winners, they were all first-timers, as Charlie Blackmon, Christian Yelich, Yoenis Cespedes, Mark Trumbo and Mookie Betts each took home their first career hardware for their hitting.

FIRST BASE

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Miguel Cabrera holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a first baseman, with seven.

NL Winner – Anthony Rizzo (1st career)

AL Winner – Miguel Cabrera (7th career)

Miguel Cabrera further increased his lead in regards to number of Silver Sluggers as a first baseman, winning his seventh in his Hall of Fame career. On the other side, World Champion Anthony Rizzo won his first Silver Slugger award for his career, but he very well could win several more before all is said and done.

SECOND BASE

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Ryne Sandberg holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a second baseman, with seven.

NL Winner – Daniel Murphy (1st career)

AL Winner – Jose Altuve (3rd career)

After the seasons that both Daniel Murphy and Jose Altuve had, it was no shock to see them win the Silver Slugger award. Murphy picks up his first, while Altuve takes home the honor for the third time in his career. Whether they can each keep up their amazing 2016 season into 2017 is yet to be seen, but more Silver Sluggers could be on the horizon for them.

THIRD BASE

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Wade Boggs holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a third baseman, with eight.

NL Winner – Nolan Arenado (2nd career)

AL Winner – Josh Donaldson (2nd career)

Nolan Arenado is going to go down as one of the best all-around third basemen in history when all is said and done, further adding to his career resume with his second career Silver Slugger. Josh Donaldson also picks up his second award, doing so by having a year much like his MVP-winning season in 2015.

SHORTSTOP

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Barry Larkin holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a shortstop, with nine.

NL Winner – Corey Seager (1st career)

AL Winner – Xander Bogaerts (2nd career)

The future appears to be bright at the shortstop position, as Corey Seager and Xander Bogaerts look to be the top players at those positions for quite some time to come. Although anything can happen in the future, them each winning many more Silver Slugger awards seems very likely.

CATCHER

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Mike Piazza holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a catcher, with ten.

NL Winner – Wilson Ramos (1st career)

AL Winner – Salvador Perez (1st career)

Both Wilson Ramos and Salvador Perez picked up their first career Silver Slugger awards, but each have had plenty of great seasons to this point in their careers. However, they took things to another level in 2016, making them each extremely deserving of the award win.

PITCHER

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Mike Hampton holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a pitcher, with five.

Winner – Jake Arrieta (1st career)

Pitchers are generally known as the worst hitting players on any given team’s roster, but there are a few of them who can actually swing the bat fairly well. One of those such players is Jake Arrieta, who can really put on a show at times throughout any given season, in addition to being one of the best pitchers in the game.

DESIGNATED HITTER

Most Silver Slugger Awards: David Ortiz holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a Designated Hitter, with seven.

Winner – David Ortiz (7th career)

In his last season before retirement, David Ortiz had one of his best overall seasons of his career. At age forty, Ortiz posted numbers that would be considered amazing for someone even half his age. With him no longer going to be the designated hitter for the Red Sox, it’s fitting to see him go out with one final Silver Slugger win.

Indians Head Back to Cleveland Still One Win Away

After witnessing the Indians dominating game one of the World Series and the Cubs coming back to take control of game two, you knew game three was bound to be exciting.

With the series tied at a game apiece, each team would come out wanting to take control of the series and give them the advantage of heading into game four of the first World Series games to be played at Wrigley Field since 1945.

That was certainly the case from the first pitch on Friday night, as the two starters — Josh Tomlin for the Indians and Kyle Hendricks for the Cubs — were absolutely terrific the first time through the opposing team’s order, despite neither being power-pitchers and the disadvantage of having the wind blowing out.

While games one and two failed to live up to the billing of a pitcher’s dual, game three turned out to be the game everyone had been waiting for, as neither starting pitcher allowed a single run over the first four innings and essentially were breezing through every batter they faced.

The first struggles of the game for Hendricks came in the fifth inning, when the bases became loaded with just one out. Due to the situation, Hendricks was removed from the game, and was replaced by Justin Grimm, who promptly got Francisco Lindor to ground into a double play; despite having gone 5-9 previously in the postseason, and being the first player age 22 or younger to start a World Series 5-9 since Mickey Mantle.

Tomlin was replaced in the sixth inning by Andrew Miller, who once again was untouchable, doing his part in keeping the game scoreless through the seventh inning, and punching the new record for scoreless innings by a reliever in the postseason, with 15 straight. It was also in that inning when the Indians would finally put something together.

A pinch-hit single from Coco Crisp, who had previously gone 3-18 in the playoffs, scored pinch-runner Michael Martinez from third, giving the Indians a 1-0 lead in the late innings. With the way this game was going, you quickly got the feeling that it was going to be difficult for the Cubs to rally back.

Although Bill Murray attempted to get the Cubs motivated before their at-bats in the seventh with his Daffy-Duck-edition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”, it wouldn’t do much good in the end, despite getting the crowd in a lightened mood late in the ballgame.

The Cubs would set themselves up nicely in that very inning, as well as several more times in the game — including the ninth inning, where they had runner on second and third with two outs — but they weren’t able to come through and ended up losing the close game and falling behind the Indians two games to one in the series.

With the win, the Indians marked their fifth shutout pitching performance of their postseason thus far (a new MLB record), and also secured just the 25th time in the 649-game history of the World Series that a game ended with a final score of 1-0. In addition, the last time the Cubs were shutout in the World Series 1-0 came way back in 1918, seeing Babe Ruth throw a shutout against Chicago, leaving little doubt that this series is something historic.

Although the game was thrilling for baseball fans, it was obviously a disappointing loss for the Cubs and their fan base, as it guaranteed they could no longer win the series at Wrigley Field in front of their home crowd. Furthermore, falling one game further away from finally breaking their 108-year World Series championship drought, the Cubs would have to come back the next night and even up the score if they wanted to avoid sitting just one loss away from elimination altogether. You began to get the feeling that game four was going to be another absolute battle.

Game four began just that way, with John Lackey going up against Corey Kluber, who had been terrific in game one. But this time around, it was Lackey who began strong, with Kluber giving up a run in the first, after allowing a drop-in double to Dexter Fowler, and a single up the middle from Anthony Rizzo, making the score 1-0 Cubs.

But before the Cubs fans were able to settle back into their seats, Lackey gave up a run of his own via a solo home run to Carlos Santana in the second, marking the first home run by a first baseman in the World Series at Wrigley Field since Lou Gehrig in 1932. Then, following an error by Bryant which allowed Lonnie Chisenhall to reach first — he was moved to second by Perez with two outs — the next batter, Tyler Naquin, was walked to get to the pitcher.

But Kluber proceeded to hit a weak tapper that was thrown wildly by Bryant for his second error of the game, allowing Chisenhall to score and give the Indians a one-run lead. Once again, the next inning, after a leadoff double by Kipnis, the Indians would score when Lindor singled him home, giving the Indians a 3-1 lead.

Neither team would score again for the next two innings, but the Indians were back at it again in the sixth. Mike Montgomery, the reliever for Lackey, gave up a leadoff walk to Lindor, a single to Santana, and a ground out that made it first and third with one out. The next batter Chisenhall then blasted a ball deep enough into the outfield to allow Lindor to score and make it 4-1.

The Cubs would attempt to answer back in the bottom half when a leadoff double from Rizzo got the crowd amped up, but yet again the Cubs couldn’t make it count, failing to get another hit in the inning.

The Indians, however, couldn’t stop hitting all night long. Leading off the seventh with a double was Coco Crisp, who advanced to third on a wild pitch with no outs. Rajai Davis was then drilled with the next pitch, and Jason Kipnis ended up launching a three-run bomb to push the lead to six runs.

With that hit, the fans went absolutely silent, especially with Andrew Miller entering the game. But Miller proved that he was in fact human, giving up a homer to Fowler in the eighth inning. Still, the Cubs weren’t able to get anywhere close to threatening the Indians 7-2 lead, as Cleveland was victorious for the second straight night and moved just one win away from winning it all.

Down 3-1 in the series, Sunday night’s game was a win or go home game for the Cubs. If they had any shot at extending their season, they would quite simply have to start getting big hits in game five or they wouldn’t stand a chance against the Indians. Though the odds were against them, the majority of the baseball world was with them, hoping they could find a way to keep the season going just a little while longer.

Jon Lester certainly gave the Cubs’ fans plenty to cheer about in the very first inning, looking sharp and striking out the side to begin the game — the first National League pitcher to do so since John Smoltz in 1996. Equally sharp, however, was Trevor Bauer, who kept the Cubs off the board as well to begin the ballgame.

The second inning was deja vu for the Cubs, as it saw the Indians once again taking an early lead off of a Jose Ramirez solo shot — the youngest player to hit a World Series homer at Wrigley Field since Joe DiMaggio in 1938. Citing the fact that the Indians had won their last fifteen games in which they had hit a home run, going back to the regular season, the odds were slowly falling away from a Cubs victory.

But then the fourth inning happened. Despite Bauer being terrific through the first three innings, his second time through the order proved troublesome. The Cubs bats absolutely came alive, as following a Kris Bryant leadoff home run, Anthony Rizzo proceeded to double off the outfield wall and later scored after a couple of well-placed singles. The bases would quickly become loaded after an out was recorded, and the veteran David Ross would deliver a sacrifice fly, scoring the Cubs’ third run of the inning, making it 3-1.

Despite Wrigley Field hopping following the breakout inning, the Indians would cool things down a bit, leading off the fifth inning with a double from Carlos Santana, who was moved to third with just one out. But a terrific job of pitching by Lester kept the Indians from scoring a single run.

That would only last through the sixth inning, however, when a two-out drop-in single by Francisco Lindor scored the second run of the contest for the Indians. After finishing out that inning, Lester’s night was done. His replacement, Carl Edwards Jr., was shaky to begin, giving up a single to Mike Napoli and allowing him to advance to second with no outs on a passed ball. But Chapman was brought on, who kept things from getting out of hand.

Chapman would stay in for the eighth inning, and although he would allow a runner to make it all the way to third with two outs, a 102 mile-per-hour heater got the strikeout he needed to escape the inning untouched. After little getting through the eighth, Chapman was entrusted with the ninth inning as well, getting the job done in quick fashion, and securing the victory for Chicago with a lengthy eight-out save performance.

With the win, the Cubs move to 3-2 in the series. Although still at a disadvantage heading back into enemy territory down a game, you know the Cubs are at the very least going to be very competitive and not go down without a fight. History is still in the process of being made. After 108 years of disappointment, the Cubs are by no means done in their attempt at achieving baseball glory.

Cubs Just One Win Away from the World Series

Any doubt the baseball world had about the Cubs throughout the entirety of the NLDS against the Giants and the first three games of the NLCS against the Dodgers is slowly beginning to fade away. Despite their offense all but shutting down over the course of the playoffs to this point, the Cubs have been able to post 18 combined runs over their last two games, once again making them the heavy favorites in this postseason.

Sitting now just one win away from their first World Series appearance since 1945, the Cubs are on the verge of a season not seen in over seven decades. With the team to win game five of the NLCS going on to the World Series nine out of the last ten seasons, it’s all but assured — baring another Steve Bartman incident — that the Cubs will be celebrating big time come either Saturday or Sunday night.

But in order to make the World Series and have any amount of success in it, the Cubs will obviously need to continue hitting. Their pitching has been only decent to this point — other than Jon Lester, who has been phenomenal — and their offense has been far worse. Javier Baez has been tremendous to this point, as has Kris Bryant, but their other stars during the season of Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist and Addison Russell are all hitting well under .200 thus far.

However, despite their struggles, I am with the majority of baseball fans who still believe in the Cubs and their ability to get the job done. Perhaps the past two games of the NLCS have given them enough confidence to keep the hit-parade going in the next dozen days or so. Although they must face Clayton Kershaw on Saturday, having to win just one of the final two games at home, the Cubs should make the World Series when all is said and done, even if it takes a full seven games.

How far beyond that they go is yet to be seen, but the Cubs have come much too far to stop now. Even if their pitching and offense aren’t on the levels they were over the length of the 162-game season, they still stand a good chance of giving the overachieving Indians a run for their money.

We very well could be just days away from it being 1908 all over again.

2016 MLB Leaders (April 3rd – October 2nd)

With the 2016 MLB regular season in the books, I thought I’d take today to recap the entire year. It was all very exciting as well as disappointing, depending on how you look at it and who you were rooting for.

But instead of talking about the events that took place this year, I decided to make a list of different categories and beside them name the player(s) that lead that particular category. I’ve done lists like these for the past several years, and they have been well received, so I decided to do it again.

The following lists are categorized into hitting and pitching, but not AL or NL:

MLB LEADERS (AL and NL) – HITTING

Most Games Played – Alcides Escobar, Jonathan Schoop and George Springer (162).

Most At-Bats – Mookie Betts (672)

Most Hits – Jose Altuve (216)

Highest Average – DJ LeMahieu (.348)

Highest OBP – Mike Trout (.441)

Highest SLG – David Ortiz (.620)

Most Runs – Mike Trout (123)

Most Doubles – David Ortiz (48)

Most Triples – Brandon Crawford, Cesar Hernandez and Chris Owings (11).

Most Home Runs – Mark Trumbo (47)

Most RBI’s – Nolan Arenado (133)

Most Base On Balls – Mike Trout (116)

Most Strikeouts – Chris Davis (219)

Most Stolen Bases – Jonathan Villar (62)

Most Caught Stealing – Jonathan Villar (18)

Most Intentional Base On Balls – Bryce Harper (20)

Most Hit By Pitch – Brandon Guyer (31)

Most Sacrifice Flies – Francisco Lindor (15)

Most Total Bases – Mookie Betts (359)

Most Extra Base Hits – David Ortiz (87)

Most Grounded Into Double Plays – Miguel Cabrera (26)

Most Ground Outs – Alcides Escobar (234)

Most Number Of Pitches Faced – Mike Trout (3,014)

Most Plate Appearances – George Springer (744)

MLB LEADERS (AL and NL) – PITCHING

Most Wins – Rick Porcello (22)

Most Losses – Chris Archer (19)

Best ERA – Kyle Hendricks (2.13)

Most Games Started – David Price (35)

Most Games Pitched – Brad Hand (82)

Most Saves – Jeurys Familia (51)

Most Innings Pitched – David Price (230)

Most Hits Allowed – David Price (227)

Most Runs Allowed – Edinson Volquez (124)

Most Earned Runs Allowed – James Shields (118)

Most Home Runs Allowed – James Shields (40)

Most Strikeouts – Max Scherzer (284)

Most Walks – Jimmy Nelson (86)

Most Complete Games – Chris Sale (6)

Most Shutouts – Clayton Kershaw (3)

Best Opponent Avg. – Jake Arrieta (.194)

Most Games Finished – Jeurys Familia and Mark Melancon (67).

Most Double Plays Achieved – Martin Perez (36)

Most Wild Pitches – Mike Fiers (17)

Most Balks – Matt Andriese and Antonio Bastardo (4).

Most Stolen Bases Allowed – Noah Syndergaard (48)

Most Pickoffs – Julio Urias (6)

Most Batters Faced – David Price (951)

Most Pitches Thrown – Justin Verlander (3,668)

Surprisingly Good and Bad Performances from 2016

In baseball — much like in life — surprises can be really good or they can be really bad. A good surprise in baseball might be a player or team having an unpredicted breakout season, while a bad surprise may be defined as a team or player destined for great things having a below average year. The 2016 season has had plenty of both throughout the entire stretch.

With just over a week left until the last games of the season leading up to the playoffs, a lot has taken place that can be deemed as good surprises or bad surprises. Having said that, I wanted to take the time to go over six hitters, six pitchers and six teams who surprised the baseball world in good or bad ways, keeping in mind that it is by no means a record of all the players who fit each category, nor is it the very top options in some cases. It’s simply a broad overview meant to recap the season as a whole.

HITTERS

Surprisingly Good: Brian Dozier, Brad Miller and Adam Duvall

Over the past several seasons, Brian Dozier has been one of the best second basemen in all of baseball. However, this season, he has broken out as arguably the best second baseman in baseball. With a previous career high of 28 home runs coming last year, Dozier has been even better this season, having knocked 42 so far — the most in American League history for a second baseman. Despite the Twins having the worst record in baseball, Dozier has been a huge surprisingly bright spot in Minnesota.

On the same theme, Brad Miller has been the biggest standout on the Rays, with the exception of All-Star Evan Longoria. Hitting 30 homers to this point in the year, Miller has blasted more round-trippers this campaign than he had over the past three seasons (343 games) combined. For that reason, Miller has been a great surprise to Tampa Bay. Whether Miller will be this type of player moving forward or is simply having a career-year, there is little argument that he wasn’t expected to be this good when the season began.

The final player on my list is Adam Duvall. After winning a World Series ring with the Giants back in 2014, Duvall has spent the last two years in Cincinnati, where he has turned out to be an extremely productive player. After playing in just 27 games last season, in which Duvall managed to hit just 5 home runs, this season has seen Duvall breaking out to record 31 blasts. It surely was surprising to see Duvall break out in the way he did, but it certainly was of the good surprise variety for the Reds and their fans.

Surprisingly Bad: Mark Teixeira, Jason Heyward and Bryce Harper

Mark Teixeira announced earlier this season that 2016 would be his final year, but he’s not going out with a bang as many of baseball’s greats have before him. Unlike his fellow retiree David Ortiz, who has recorded one of the best years in baseball history for a player 40 or older, Teixeira hasn’t been able to hit even a mere .200 and has notched only 13 homers and 38 RBI’s in 2016. Following 2015, in which Tex managed 31 homers, his year has definitely been a bad surprise for the Yankees. Even so, he is still one of the best players in recent baseball history, having hit over 400 homers in his career.

When the Cubs signed Jason Heyward to an eight-year, 184 million dollar contract leading up to this season, he was obviously expected to put up All-Star numbers for Chicago. However, he has somewhat surprisingly been pretty horrible, quite frankly. Only managing to record seven home runs and a .230 average, Heyward has yet to get things going, now nearly six months into the season. Given, Heyward can turn things around with the playoffs looming, but it would take a lot for that to happen where things stand now.

Bryce Harper’s 24 home runs and 82 home runs would be a great season for any number of players around Major League Baseball. But by Harper’s standards — set last season with his MVP-earning 42 homers — Harper is having a surprisingly bad year, seeing his batting average drop nearly an entire 100 points from a year ago. There have been rumors that Harper has been playing through an injury all season long, but that’s being denied by Harper. Whether or not it’s true, Harper — who was expected to be in the running for a second straight MVP — is still having a surprisingly down year by all accounts.

PITCHERS

Surprisingly Good: Kyle Hendricks, Tanner Roark and Steven Wright

Part of a rotation that includes the likes of Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks has surprisingly been the best pitcher of the Cubs’ entire rotation. Over the course of 28 games started for the Cubs, Hendricks has notched a mere 2.06 ERA — the best in all of baseball. By doing so, Hendricks has helped to lead the Cubs to the best record in baseball and what looks to have all the makings of a postseason run. Although it’s yet to be seen whether or not this is actually the year for the Cubs, it has certainly been the year for Kyle Hendricks.

Tanner Roark has been an average to above average pitcher for the Nationals over the past few years, but this season Roark has truly broken out. Holding a 2.70 ERA over 200.1 innings pitched, Roark has kept the Nats push towards October strong, despite the loss of Stephen Strasburg for a good chunk of the season, and inevitably the final several weeks. It very well may come down the Roark’s ability to keep his surprisingly good performance going in order to keep the Nationals going deep into the postseason.

I’ve been bringing up the name Steven Wright all season long, and for good reason. Despite being a knuckleballer, Wright has been one of the top surprises in terms of pitchers this season for the Red Sox. Although his historic start to the season has slowly dwindled away as the year progressed, Wright’s 3.30 ERA is still good enough to make this list. Although he is currently working to battle his way back from an injury, Wright has still recorded enough innings to prove himself to all of baseball that he is a true weapon moving forward.

Surprisingly Bad: Chris Archer, Shelby Miller and Zack Greinke

Chris Archer broke out in 2015 to be one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, and was set to be the Rays’ ace moving into this season. But after getting off to a poor start to begin the year, Archer hasn’t been able to get much of anything going with only one more start remaining. The strikeouts are still there, as he has produced over ten strikeouts per nine innings on the year; and with the Rays’ poor collective season, Archer’s 19 losses are somewhat deceiving. But his 4.02 ERA can’t be ignored, especially following his Cy Young eligible season last year.

Being traded to the Diamondback’s this past offseason in exchange for Dansby Swanson, who has gone from 2015 first overall draft pick to star in the big leagues, Shelby Miller has been one of the biggest surprises in all of baseball this year. Having never recorded a full-season ERA above 3.74 heading into this year, Miller has posted an ERA of 6.47 over 19 starts. Following Miller’s 3.02 ERA with the Braves last season, many expected Miller to help get the Diamondbacks back into the postseason, but he has been virtually no factor whatsoever.

Joining Shelby Miller as part of the D-back’s rotation, Zack Greinke was expected to help make their rotation one of the greatest in the majors. After all, with Greinke posting a historically-low 1.66 ERA with the Dodgers in 2015, he was all but guaranteed to be the number one starter for the D-backs. But this is baseball, where nothing is guaranteed and anything can happen from one year to the next. As such, Greinke has put up his worst ERA since back in 2005, notching a 4.37 ERA for his efforts in 2016.

TEAMS

Surprisingly Good: Marlins, Mariners and Indians

I didn’t know what to make of the Marlins heading into the 2016 season, but they truly surprised me in a big way. Dealing with the losses of star players such as Dee Gordon and Giancarlo Stanton at various points in the season, for drastically different reasons, many expected the Marlins to fade away early on. But they’ve hung in there all season long, sitting five games back of a wild card spot. Inevitably, there aren’t enough games remaining for the Marlins to wind up in the playoffs, but to still be in the discussion at this point in the year is remarkable.

Things are coming down to the wire for the Mariners, and they may not have enough in them to make the postseason for the first time since 2001, but they had a year that shocked a lot of people. With Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager all having great seasons at the right times, Seattle was able to beat a lot of teams around baseball that many felt would give them trouble. As such, they easily made my list. They may or may not make the postseason in 2016, but things are looking positive all of a sudden for them to finally get there in 2017.

Many people felt the Indians would be as good as they have been this year, but I wasn’t as convinced. I simply thought the World Series defending Royals and the always good Detroit Tigers would keep Cleveland from being relevant in the month of September. But to my surprise — as well as the surprise of some people who felt the same way I did — the Indians are sitting atop the American League Central. If they can keep things going into the playoffs, they may not be done surprising people as the postseason plays out.

Surprisingly Bad: Rays, Braves and Twins

A lot of people actually picked the Tampa Bay Rays to win the American League East division this season, with their rotation being the key to that happening. However, with Chris Archer having a rough year along with several untimely injuries, the Rays haven’t been able to come close to realizing their predicted potential. With only a week to go, the Rays are in sole possession of last place in the American League East. With the division strong once again, it remains to be seen if the Rays can turn things around in 2017 and beyond.

It took the Braves forever to win a single game this season, and once they finally recorded one in the win column, they still weren’t able to get much of anything going. Losing 91 games to this point in the year, the Braves are promising that 2017 will be the year things turn around, with them getting a shiny new ballpark across town. But if the Braves don’t turn things around next year in a big way from this season, their ballpark could easily turn out to be the bright spot in the entire season when all is said and done.

Much like the Braves, the Twins’ season was over before it even got started. When the final game has been recorded, the Twins will have more than likely lost 100+ games after finishing four game over .500 last year. Following that breakout performance for the Twins, many people felt that they would be able to keep it going into this year. But it wasn’t meant to be, as the Twins have been one of the worst teams in recent baseball history. Although they could easily turn things around in 2017, all hope is lost for this year.

Latest MLB Leaders (April 3rd – August 31st)

With the first five months of the 2016 MLB season in the books, I thought I’d take the first day of the new month to recap the season thus far. It’s been exciting as well as disappointing, depending on how you look at it and who you’re rooting for.

But instead of talking about the events that have taken place so far this year, I decided to make a list of different categories and beside them name the player(s) that leads that particular category. I’ve done lists like these for the past several years, and they have been well received, so I decided to do it again.

The following lists are categorized into hitting and pitching, but not AL or NL:

MLB LEADERS (AL and NL) – HITTING

Most Games Played – Alcides Escobar, Jonathan Schoop and George Springer (133).

Most At-Bats – Mookie Betts (559)

Most Hits – Jose Altuve (184)

Highest Average – Jose Altuve (.351)

Highest OBP – Mike Trout (.436)

Highest SLG – David Ortiz (.622)

Most Runs – Kris Bryant (111)

Most Doubles – David Ortiz (42)

Most Triples – Brandon Crawford, Cesar Hernandez and Chris Owings (9).

Most Home Runs – Mark Trumbo (40)

Most RBI’s – Nolan Arenado (115)

Most Base On Balls – Paul Goldschmidt (95)

Most Strikeouts – Chris Davis (181)

Most Stolen Bases – Billy Hamilton (54)

Most Caught Stealing – Jonathan Villar (16)

Most Intentional Base On Balls – Bryce Harper (16)

Most Hit By Pitch – Brandon Guyer (29)

Most Sacrifice Flies – Francisco Lindor (11)

Most Total Bases – Mookie Betts (315)

Most Extra Base Hits – David Ortiz (74)

Most Grounded Into Double Plays – David Ortiz (22)

Most Ground Outs – Alcides Escobar (200)

Most Number Of Pitches Faced – Paul Goldschmidt (2,488)

Most Plate Appearances – George Springer (612)

MLB LEADERS (AL and NL) – PITCHING

Most Wins – Rick Porcello (18)

Most Losses – Chris Archer (17)

Best ERA – Kyle Hendricks (2.09)

Most Games Started – Eight players tied for most (28).

Most Games Pitched – Zach Duke and Hector Nerris (67).

Most Saves – Jeurys Familia (44)

Most Innings Pitched – Max Scherzer (190)

Most Hits Allowed – Jered Weaver (187)

Most Runs Allowed – Patrick Corbin (107)

Most Earned Runs Allowed – James Shields (97)

Most Home Runs Allowed – Josh Tomlin (35)

Most Strikeouts – Max Scherzer (238)

Most Walks – Francisco Liriano (79)

Most Complete Games – Chris Sale (5)

Most Shutouts – Clayton Kershaw (3)

Best Opponent Avg. – Jake Arrieta (.185)

Most Games Finished – Jeurys Familia (56)

Most Double Plays Achieved – Martin Perez (35)

Most Wild Pitches – Mike Fiers and Sonny Gray (15).

Most Balks – Matt Andriese and Antonio Bastardo (4).

Most Stolen Bases Allowed – Noah Syndergaard (41)

Most Pickoffs – Julio Urias (5)

Most Batters Faced – David Price (765)

Most Pitches Thrown – Justin Verlander (3,012)

Latest MLB Leaders (April 3rd – July 31st)

With the first four months of the 2016 MLB season in the books, I thought I’d take the first day of the new month to recap the season thus far. It’s been exciting as well as disappointing, depending on how you look at it and who you’re rooting for.

But instead of talking about the events that have taken place so far this year, I decided to make a list of different categories and beside them name the player(s) that leads that particular category. I’ve done lists like these for the past several years, and they have been well received, so I decided to do it again.

The following lists are categorized into hitting and pitching, but not AL or NL:

MLB LEADERS (AL and NL) – HITTING

Most Games Played – Odubel Herrera (106)

Most At-Bats – Mookie Betts

Most Hits – Jose Altuve (145)

Highest Average – Jose Altuve (.356)

Highest OBP – Jose Altuve and Mike Trout (.425)

Highest SLG – David Ortiz (.643)

Most Runs – Josh Donaldson (87)

Most Doubles – David Ortiz (35)

Most Triples – Jake Lamb (8)

Most Home Runs – Mark Trumbo (30)

Most RBI’s – Edwin Encarnacion (89)

Most Base On Balls – Bryce Harper (80)

Most Strikeouts – Chris Davis (144)

Most Stolen Bases – Jonathan Villar (38)

Most Caught Stealing – Jonathan Villar (12)

Most Intentional Base On Balls – Bryce Harper (16)

Most Hit By Pitch – Brandon Guyer (23)

Most Sacrifice Flies – Francisco Lindor (11)

Most Total Bases – Mookie Betts (235)

Most Extra Base Hits – David Ortiz (61)

Most Grounded Into Double Plays – Yunel Escobar (19)

Most Ground Outs – Alcides Escobar (169)

Most Number Of Pitches Faced – Mike Trout (1,984)

Most Plate Appearances – Mookie Betts and George Springer (469)

MLB LEADERS (AL and NL) – PITCHING

Most Wins – Five players tied for most (14).

Most Losses – Chris Archer (14)

Best ERA – Clayton Kershaw (1.79)

Most Games Started – Chris Tillman (23)

Most Games Pitched – Travis Wood (54)

Most Saves – Jeurys Familia (37)

Most Innings Pitched – Madison Bumgarner (150.2)

Most Hits Allowed – Mike Pelfrey (152)

Most Runs Allowed – Patrick Corbin (90)

Most Earned Runs Allowed – Dallas Keuchel (75)

Most Home Runs Allowed – R.A. Dickey, Ian Kennedy and Chris Young (26).

Most Strikeouts – Max Scherzer (187)

Most Walks – Francisco Liriano (69)

Most Complete Games – Johnny Cueto (4)

Most Shutouts – Clayton Kershaw (3)

Best Opponent Avg. – Marco Estrada (.181)

Most Games Finished – Jeurys Familia (48)

Most Double Plays Achieved – Martin Perez (28)

Most Wild Pitches – Sonny Gray (15)

Most Balks – Matt Andriese (4)

Most Stolen Bases Allowed – Noah Syndergaard (30)

Most Pickoffs – Five players tied for most (4).

Most Batters Faced – David Price (602)

Most Pitches Thrown – Justin Verlander (2,354)

2016 MLB All-Star Game Rosters Revealed

The American League and National League rosters for the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star game, set to be held out at Petco Park, in San Diego, California, on July 12th (you can watch it on FOX at 8:00 Eastern) were released on Tuesday evening.

As always, the baseball world is hard at work discussing the rosters, debating over which players were snubbed from the teams, which players didn’t necessarily (in their eyes) deserve to make the cut, and (most importantly) which team they think will win when all is said and done. But that comes with each and every year and is part of what makes things so fun.

Here are the official All-Star rosters:

American League

Starters

C: Salvador Perez (4th)

1B: Eric Hosmer (1st)

2B: Jose Altuve (4th)

SS: Xander Bogaerts (1st)

3B: Manny Machado (3rd)

OF: Mike Trout (5th), Jackie Bradley Jr. (1st), Mookie Betts (1st)

DH: David Ortiz (10th)

Pitchers

LHP: Chris Sale (5th)

RHP: Craig Kimbrel (5th)

LHP: Zach Britton (2nd)

LHP: Andrew Miller (1st)

RHP: Wade Davis (2nd)

RHP: Marco Estrada (1st)

LHP: Cole Hamels (4th)

RHP: Danny Salazar (1st)

RHP: Steven Wright (1st)

RHP: Dellin Betances (3rd)

RHP: Brad Brach (1st)

RHP: Alex Colome (1st)

RHP: Kelvin Herrera (2nd)

RHP: Will Harris (1st)

Reserves

C: Stephen Vogt (2nd), Matt Wieters (4th)

1B: Miguel Cabrera (11th)

2B: Robinson Cano (7th)

SS: Francisco Lindor (1st), Eduardo Nunez (1st)

3B: Josh Donaldson (3rd)

OF: Carlos Beltran (9th), Ian Desmond (2nd), Mark Trumbo (2nd)

DH: Edwin Encarnacion (3rd)

National League

Starters

C: Buster Posey (4th)

1B: Anthony Rizzo (3rd)

2B: Ben Zobrist (3rd)

SS: Addison Russell (1st)

3B: Kris Bryant (2nd)

OF: Bryce Harper (4th), Yoenis Cespedes (2nd), Dexter Fowler (1st)

Pitchers

LHP: Clayton Kershaw (6th)

RHP: Jake Arrieta (1st)

RHP: Noah Syndergaard (1st)

RHP: Stephen Strasburg (2nd)

LHP: Madison Bumgarner (4th)

RHP: Jose Fernandez (2nd)

RHP: Johnny Cueto (2nd)

LHP: Jon Lester (4th)

RHP: Julio Teheran (2nd)

RHP: Jeurys Familia (1st)

RHP: Kenley Jansen (1st)

RHP: Mark Melancon (3rd)

RHP: A.J. Ramos (1st)

RHP: Fernando Rodney (3rd)

Reserves

C: Jonathan Lucroy (2nd), Wilson Ramos (1st)

1B: Paul Goldschmidt (4th), Wil Myers (1st)

2B: Daniel Murphy (2nd)

SS: Corey Seager (1st)

3B: Nolan Arenado (2nd), Matt Carpenter (3rd)

OF: Carlos Gonzalez (3rd), Odubel Herrera (1st), Marcell Ozuna (1st) Adam Duvall (1st)

Final Five

The final rosters for the 2016 All-Star game aren’t complete just yet, however. There is still one final spot up for grabs in the American League and National League. Which players fill those roles comes down to the fans. From now until Friday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, you have the opportunity to vote for either Brandon Belt, Ryan Braun, Jake Lamb, Starling Marte or Trevor Story in the NL, and Ian Kinsler, Evan Longoria, Dustin Pedroia, Michael Saunders or George Springer  the AL.

For what it’s worth, I plan to cast my vote for Jake Lamb and George Springer, who are each having somewhat under-the-radar, but superb years. You can pick whoever you want to by going HERE and casting your ballot. It should be interesting to see how the game goes a week from tonight.

Latest MLB Leaders (April 3rd – June 30th)

With the first three months of the 2016 MLB season in the books, I thought I’d take the first day of the new month to recap the season thus far. It’s been exciting as well as disappointing, depending on how you look at it and who you’re rooting for.

But instead of talking about the events that have taken place so far this year, I decided to make a list of different categories and beside them name the player(s) that leads that particular category. I’ve done lists like these for the past several years, and they have been well received, so I decided to do it again.

The following lists are categorized into hitting and pitching, but not AL or NL:

MLB LEADERS (AL and NL) – HITTING

Most Games Played – Edwin Encarnacion, Kevin Pillar and Corey Seager (80).

Most At-Bats – Mookie Betts (345)

Most Hits – Jose Altuve (111)

Highest Average – Jose Altuve (.357)

Highest OBP – Jose Altuve (.432)

Highest SLG – David Ortiz (.672)

Most Runs – Mookie Betts (67)

Most Doubles – David Ortiz (31)

Most Triples – Adam Eaton (7)

Most Home Runs – Todd Frazier and Mark Trumbo (23).

Most RBI’s – Edwin Encarnacion (70)

Most Base On Balls – Bryce Harper (64)

Most Strikeouts – Chris Davis (107)

Most Stolen Bases – Jonathan Villar (26)

Most Caught Stealing – Jonathan Villar (9)

Most Intentional Base On Balls – Bryce Harper (14)

Most Hit By Pitch – Derek Dietrich and Brandon Guyer (15).

Most Sacrifice Flies – Chris Carter (7)

Most Total Bases – Manny Machado (184)

Most Extra Base Hits – David Ortiz (50)

Most Grounded Into Double Plays – Dustin Pedroia (14)

Most Ground Outs – Adam Eaton (132)

Most Number Of Pitches Faced – Paul Goldschmidt (1,535)

Most Plate Appearances – Mookie Betts and George Springer (370).

MLB LEADERS (AL and NL) – PITCHING

Most Wins – Chris Sale (13)

Most Losses – Chris Archer (11)

Best ERA – Clayton Kershaw (1.79)

Most Games Started – Eleven players tied for most (17).

Most Games Pitched – Hector Neris (42)

Most Saves – Jeurys Familia (27)

Most Innings Pitched – Clayton Kershaw (121)

Most Hits Allowed – Dallas Keuchel and Mike Pelfrey (118).

Most Runs Allowed – Dallas Keuchel (64)

Most Earned Runs Allowed – Dallas Keuchel (61)

Most Home Runs Allowed – Chris Young (22)

Most Strikeouts – Max Scherzer (148)

Most Walks – Francisco Liriano (54)

Most Complete Games – Five players tied for most (3).

Most Shutouts – Clayton Kershaw (3)

Best Opponent Avg. – Marco Estrada (.168)

Most Games Finished – Jeurys Familia (37)

Most Double Plays Achieved – Martin Perez (19)

Most Wild Pitches – Sonny Gray (11)

Most Balks – Matt Andriese (4)

Most Stolen Bases Allowed – Noah Syndergaard (28)

Most Pickoffs – Four players tied for most (4).

Most Batters Faced – Dallas Keuchel (468)

Most Pitches Thrown – Madison Bumgarner (1,814)

Latest MLB Leaders (April 3rd – May 31st)

With the first two months of the 2016 MLB season in the books, I thought I’d take the first day of the new month to recap the season thus far. It’s been exciting as well as disappointing, depending on how you look at it and who you’re rooting for.

But instead of talking about the events that have taken place so far this year, I decided to make a list of different categories and beside them name the player(s) that leads that particular category. I’ve done lists like these for the past several years, and they have been well received, so I decided to do it again.

The following lists are categorized into hitting and pitching, but not AL or NL:

MLB LEADERS (AL and NL) – HITTING

Most Games Played – Matt Duffy and Edwin Encarnacion (54).

Most At-Bats – Mookie Betts (230)

Most Hits – Daniel Murphy (77)

Highest Average – Daniel Murphy (.397)

Highest OBP – Ben Zobrist (.445)

Highest SLG – David Ortiz (.716)

Most Runs – Mookie Betts (49)

Most Doubles – David Ortiz (23)

Most Triples – Thirteen players tied for most (4).

Most Home Runs – Nolan Arenado and Todd Frazier (16).

Most RBI’s – David Ortiz (47)

Most Base On Balls – Paul Goldschmidt (49)

Most Strikeouts – Trevor Story (76)

Most Stolen Bases – Jonathan Villar (19)

Most Caught Stealing – Norichika Aoki and Mallex Smith (7).

Most Intentional Base On Balls – Bryce Harper (13)

Most Hit By Pitch – Brandon Guyer (14)

Most Sacrifice Flies – Chris Carter and Bryce Harper (5).

Most Total Bases – David Ortiz (126)

Most Extra Base Hits – David Ortiz (38)

Most Grounded Into Double Plays – Albert Pujols (10)

Most Ground Outs – Adam Eaton (90)

Most Number Of Pitches Faced – Mike Trout (1,038)

Most Plate Appearances – Mookie Betts (246)

MLB LEADERS (AL and NL) – PITCHING

Most Wins – Jake Arrieta, Chris Sale and Stephen Strasburg (9).

Most Losses – Five players tied for most (7).

Best ERA – Clayton Kershaw and Jake Arrieta (1.56).

Most Games Started – Forty-six players tied for most (11).

Most Games Pitched – Zach Duke (28)

Most Saves – Jeurys Familia and Jeanmar Gomez (17).

Most Innings Pitched – Clayton Kershaw (86.2)

Most Hits Allowed – Wily Peralta (85)

Most Runs Allowed – Anibal Sanchez (47)

Most Earned Runs Allowed – Dallas Keuchel (43)

Most Home Runs Allowed – Max Scherzer (15)

Most Strikeouts – Clayton Kershaw (105)

Most Walks – Tom Koehler (35)

Most Complete Games – Four players tied for most (3).

Most Shutouts – Clayton Kershaw (3)

Best Opponent Avg. – Jake Arrieta (.161)

Most Games Finished – Jeurys Familia (25)

Most Double Plays Achieved – Martin Perez (17)

Most Wild Pitches – Sonny Gray (9)

Most Balks – Matt Andriese and Joakim Soria (3).

Most Stolen Bases Allowed – Noah Syndergaard (15)

Most Pickoffs – Nick Tropeano (4)

Most Batters Faced – Johnny Cueto (318)

Most Pitches Thrown – Justin Verlander (1,191)