A few days ago, I went to a card shop and grabbed some packs of Topps fire and Topps archive. I got an Ichiro’s card from Topps fire and a Tsutsugo’s rookie card from Topps archive. Back in Japan, they are both great hitters. Ichiro is a legend, no doubts. Tsutsugo already hit more than 200 homers in NPB, but he’s probably not satisfied with his first season, a 60-game regular season, in the Major League. As we have seen many Japanese hitters play in the majors, who did hit really well in their rookie seasons?
After a wild game 4 comeback, Rays tie the World Series at two games each. Thus, we will have at least 6 WS games and this series is going long. We will see Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow pitch in game 5 and try to help their teams to lead in the World Series. Since there will be at least 2 more games in the World Series, what should we expect in the upcoming games?
Shohei Ohtani made his MLB debut on March 29, 2018. It was the beginning of “Showtime”. I still remember that back in early 2018, lots of my friends were eager to collect Ohtani’s rookie cards and they bought several boxes of baseball cards once released. Ohtani did not let his fans down and collectors were extremely happy to see Ohtani hit pretty well in his rookie season. Even though Ohtani underwent Tommy John surgery, lots of fans were looking forward to seeing him come back stronger. He did come back on the mound, but it didn’t go well in this shortened season. In the meantime, his hitting also seemed to be discouraging.
League Championship Series already began. Four great teams are fighting for their tickets to the World Series. October baseball is not like the regular season. You are playing against a great team and there is not much room for mistakes. Meanwhile, you have to be patient to wait for your opponents to make mistakes.
The League Championship Series is about to start. Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays are looking to advance to the World Series. Some players are truly on fire in the Division Series and it’s going to be extremely important to see whether they will stay hot to carry their teams or even better, to be League Championships Series MVP(s).
Bullpen usage has been extremely important to secure a win in modern baseball. We see many relievers are flamethrowers or they throw nasty pitches to cause swings and misses. I am curious about one thing. Which team’s relievers generate the most swings and misses?
Three outs, three outs, you need three outs to end an inning. Thus, a player can’t lose focus after two outs. Even if a player just loses a little bit of focus, there could be some damage.
1-run games are surely very intense and give fans excitement. Meanwhile, it’s also a test to see whether a team can perform well in a high-leverage situation. In this shortened season, which team had the slimmest-margin wins?
The 2020 season is indeed a very difficult and different season. The outbreak of COVID-19 caused the MLB to suspend the spring training and make several changes in the regular season and postseason. A major change is an extra-innings rule that begins each extra inning with a runner on second base.
