Active Leaders – Pitchers

Topps update series baseball is usually my favorite set. Normally, it wraps up the season with stars, All-Stars, rookie debuts and some inserts. In particular, you might get All-Star relic cards or All-Star autographs from that season’s All-Stars. However, 2020 is not normal. The MLB All-Star game was canceled this season and it’s a season with only 60 games. So, no 2020 All-Star relic cards in the set. Top rookies such as Jake Cronenworth and Cristian Javier aren’t in this set, either. For me, it’s not so attractive because I really like to collect baseball cards that highlight the All-Star game. But, I still bought some packs to see whether I can get some cool cards.

These free agents might be worth watching

Joc Pederson

Some players and some teams already made some decisions. Kevin Gausman and Marcus Stroman accepted qualifying offers. Drew Smyly signed a one-year contract with the Braves. Josh Tomlin also signed a one-year contract with the Braves. Robbie Ray inked the deal with the Blue Jays. Players such as Jose Peraza and Mallex Smith each signed a minor league contract. Top free agents such as Trevor Bauer and DJ LeMahieu are still available. In the meantime, on the free agent market, besides these top players, there are several players worth watching.

1961 & 2009 Then & Now (Base on Balls)

Off-season. Waiting for news on the free agent market. I spent a few hours re-classifying my baseball cards and saw a 2010 Topps heritage then & now. On the front, we can see Yankees legend Mickey Mantle and Adrian Gonzalez in the Padres jersey. On the back, it indicated that Mantle was the 1961 bases on balls leader and Adrian Gonzalez the 2009 bases on balls leader.  

MVPs are first basemen

Two first basemen won the MVP awards. Braves’ Freddie Freeman received 28 first-place votes in the NL MVP voting and Jose Abreu from the White Sox received 21 first-place votes in the AL MVP voting. Previously, Jose Abreu won the 2014 AL Rookie of the Year award and finished 4th in the 2014 MVP voting. Freddie Freeman finished 4th in the 2018 MVP voting. In the 2020 season, their outstanding performances convince the members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Cy Young winners are from OHIO

Shane Bieber received 30 first-place votes, thus, he is the unanimous winner of the 2020 Cy Young award. He’s the 5th Indians pitcher to win the award. Trevor Bauer received 27 first-place votes and he is the first Reds pitcher to win the Cy Young award. Previously, they were teammates in the Cleveland Indians. Let’s look back to see how outstanding these two great pitchers are.

Mariners ROY(s)

Unanimous choice. Kyle Lewis won the 2020 American League Rookie of the Year award. He’s the fourth Mariners player who won the Rookie of the Year award, the other three winners from the Mariners are Alvin Davis, Kazuhiro Sasaki and Ichiro Suzuki. Among these 4 ROY winners, Kyle Lewis is the only unanimous winner. 

Joy of collecting baseball cards

As a baseball fan, watching baseball games is definitely one of the great things in our life. Meanwhile, collecting baseball cards also provides a lot of fun when you get something you want or something special. For me, there are a lot of great things to love about collecting baseball cards.

Splitter

The first time I heard of splitter was probably when former MLB pitcher Manny Hernandez played in Taiwan and the broadcaster indicated that splitter was his weapon. Back then, I was thinking that throwing a splitter was very common. Well, in the 2020 season, 17 pitchers threw at least 100 splitters.

Top Free Agents – Position Players

Nov. 11, deadline for free agents to accept or reject the qualifying offer. Only 6 players got a qualifying offer. Among these 6 players, there are 3 position players, Yankees’ infielder DJ LeMahieu, Phillies’ catcher J.T. Realmuto and Astros’ outfielder George Springer.

Top free agents – Pitchers

It’s been almost two weeks since the last game of the 2020 season. Two weeks without baseball are boring, right? However, each team has its work to do this offseason. Some teams make some changes in the front office. Some teams are looking for a new manager. And one thing for sure, every team will try to sign free agents.

Top arms in the World Series

Kevin Cash’s decision to pull Blake Snell is probably going to be remembered and people will probably be discussed again and again. Making pitching changes is not an easy decision, particularly in the postseason. In the World Series, a pitching change might cause you to blow the whole series. In the 2020 World Series, we saw 28 pitchers pitch on the mound. Here is something interesting.

DHs in the postseason

In the 2020, MLB instituted a universal DH for this season as part of its health and safety protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic. We don’t know whether the National League would convert to its traditional rules in 2021. Thus, we don’t know if we are going to see pitchers hit in 2021. But, before going to 2021, we can see how each teams’ DHs performed in the 2020 postseason.

Kershaw’s swing and miss rate in the postseason

The 2020 season is over. The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series title for the first time since 1988. Clayton Kershaw, born in 1988, a three-time Cy Young award winner, finally got the ring.