{"id":62106,"date":"2018-04-03T08:47:07","date_gmt":"2018-04-03T08:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=62106"},"modified":"2018-04-03T08:47:07","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T08:47:07","slug":"mlb-early-overreactions-astros-nationals-unstoppable-boone-and-kapler-questionable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/mlb-early-overreactions-astros-nationals-unstoppable-boone-and-kapler-questionable.html","title":{"rendered":"MLB early overreactions: Astros, Nationals unstoppable, Boone and Kapler questionable"},"content":{"rendered":"

MLB early overreactions: Astros, Nationals unstoppable, Boone and Kapler questionable<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Spring training produces unbridled hope, and Opening Day blooms with pageantry, but there’s nothing pretty about what we’ll call Major League Baseball’s extrapolation season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finding greater meaning in granular sample sizes is foolhardy at best, irresponsible at worst – but let’s give it a shot anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n

Herewith, a handful of overreactions from the opening series of the 2018 season that will hopefully serve as harbingers and not clip-and-save fodder:<\/span><\/p>\n

The Astros and Nationals are unstoppable<\/span><\/p>\n

Above all, this one counts as confirmation bias. No two clubs were such overwhelming favorites to win their division as Houston and Washington, but it’s the manner in which the Astros won three of four at Texas and the Nationals swept three in Cincinnati that caught our eye.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the opening weekend taught us anything, it’s that sturdy starting pitching is harder to come by. Houston and Washington are fairly bursting with it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Astros quartet of Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers and Gerrit Cole struck out 30 batters in 24 1\/3 innings, held the Rangers to six runs (a 2.22 ERA) and produced three quality starts – an endangered species in the modern game, particularly in the early days of April, when aces are still stretching out.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Nationals, meanwhile, are as we figured – and much more. Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez combined to give up two earned runs over 18 1\/3 innings against a challenging Cincinnati Reds lineup. The Nationals outscored the Reds 21-12, and eight of the 10 earned runs they yielded came against lower-leverage relievers Matt Grace, Sammy Solis and Enny Romero.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lest we forget, Adam Eaton is back. Eleven months after tearing an ACL, he was the NL’s most potent player over the weekend, going 8 for 13 (.615 average) with two home runs, seven runs scored and five driven in. That will play atop the lineup and in front of Anthony Rendon and Bryce Harper.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Yankees are a drama-filled joyride <\/span><\/p>\n

Nothing can dim the memory of a two-homer debut from your new franchise player than a rookie manager’s controversial late-game maneuver backfiring. And that’s where the Yankees find themselves after a disappointing four-game split at Toronto.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aaron Boone replaced Joe Girardi having never managed a game – yet with the papal blessing of a New York press corps that seemed ready to give him a pass. That pass might be used up after Boone’s intentional walk of Josh Donaldson preceded Justin Smoak’s eighth-inning, go-ahead grand slam on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n

A manager is going to push a few wrong buttons, of course. But the Yankees’ 2-2 start did include a few concerns we pointed out before the season. After Giancarlo Stanton’s Opening Day tour de force, he got virtually no pitches to hit and he and Aaron Judge combined to go 2 for 20 the remainder of the series.<\/span><\/p>\n

The wrong Sonny Gray – the pitch-inefficient one – showed up in Toronto, forcing the Yankees to dip into that vaunted bullpen early. And David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle showed Sunday that reliever performance can be volatile.<\/span><\/p>\n

Weep not for the Bronx Bombers – there’s little holding them back from a 90-win season. But the road to the playoffs will be an intriguing one – and will surely keep the tabloids’ back pages in business.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tankers will implode early – and often<\/span><\/p>\n

If there’s one thing tanking – or, as agent Scott Boras puts it, baseball’s “non-competitive cancer” – achieves, it’s burying the notion of the “surprise team.” Lipstick on a pig eventually fades over 162 games, and for the dozen or so teams not fervently trying to win, it’s already getting ugly.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Reds, Athletics, Rays, Padres and Tigers – all virtually consensus picks to finish fourth or fifth in their divisions – lost 15 of 17 games over the long weekend, their expected shortcomings on full display.<\/span><\/p>\n

The A’s came to camp with eight starting pitcher candidates and perhaps just two written in stone. They proceeded to lose a pair of young arms to Tommy John surgery, and the foursome that faced the Angels combined for a 6.05 ERA.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rays met a similar spring fate, as the losses of Brent Honeywell (Tommy John surgery) and Nathan Eovaldi (bone chips in elbow) compromised a staff already tooling around with one “bullpen day” through the rotation. But that grand experiment did just fine against the powerful Boston Red Sox, as the Rays gave up just nine earned runs in four games (2.25 ERA).<\/span><\/p>\n

Hitting, however, was another story, and a lineup that turned over four of its top five performers from an 80-82 team may prove punchless all season. Sure, Chris Sale, David Price and Rick Porcello didn’t help matters, but outside of Baltimore, there are few breathers among the Rays’ AL East opposition.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for the Tigers, what’s old is new, only worse: If you thought their bullpen was bad when they were contenders, wait ’til you see how many games this group can lose.<\/span><\/p>\n

Boone’s honeymoon was rivaled only by Gabe Kapler’s in Philadelphia. The new-age thinker’s ruminations on sleep patterns, diet and massage provided fascinating fodder through spring training, and a traditional market like Philly seemed ready to embrace the muscle-bound skipper.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet after three games, the news media are already posing a legitimate question: Has Kapler lost his clubhouse, and a good portion of the fan base?<\/span><\/p>\n

Kapler’s egregious managing error – summoning reliever Hoby Milner before the lefty had even thrown a warm-up pitch in the bullpen – festered all the way into Monday, as the Phillies had a rare Sunday off. That’s plenty time for fans and players to stew – and Kapler to concoct a deeper mea culpa than a mere “miscommunication” that caused the flap.<\/span><\/p>\n

He already was scrutinized for lifting ace Aaron Nola 20 batters into the opener, but Saturday’s debacle – which included a position player pitching in just the season’s third game – means Kapler must prove his competence when it was once assumed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure, managers only have so much control over results, and so much impact on decisions in this era of front-office overreach. But for all the innovation and hijinks a Joe Maddon or Dave Martinez or A.J. Hinch brings to a club – be it camels, trust circles or batting the pitcher eighth – their credibility is never sacrificed by screwing up the simple stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kapler did just that, three games into his tenure. Good thing Philly fans aren’t known for overreacting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/mlb\/2018\/04\/02\/mlb-overreactions-nationals-astros-aaron-boone-gabe-kapler\/477576002\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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