“Swing Batta Batta Batta”: MLB Preview (Rays, Rangers, Phillies & Giants)
By: Tyrone Montgomery Jr.
Headline Photo Courtesy:MLB Pressbox
America has spoken: Baseball is Back! After a very long spring, the players and the league have finally reached an agreement. We will have 60 games in the regular season this year. Here’s a preview on how the Rays, Phillies, Rangers, and Giants will fare this season…
Tampa Bay Rays (96-66) AL West
The Tampa Bay Rays had quite the season last year. A huge reason was having Pitching the entire league feared. Their pitching went well last year as the Rays ranked in the Top 10 (6th Overall) in Shutout games. You couldn’t hit against this team and they didnt give up a lot of points either. In fact, they only gave up 640 runs which was 2nd in the entire league. Pitching wasn’t the issue at all in Tampa Bay. The problem for the Rays was Execution. Losing a guy like Tommy Pham will hurt this team. He was the Rays’ #2 Home Run Hitter last season. Even the loss of Avisail Garcia hurts. The Rays will be right back in the playoffs once again. While pitching is great to have, especially in the postseason, you have to execute and take advantage of opportunities when you have runners on base. As good as the Rays are now, this team still has a long ways to go and that’s another scary part for the rest of the league.
Philadelphia Phillies (81-81) NL East
One season down, and many more to go for Bryce Harper led Philadelphia Phillies. RF Bryce Harper signed a 13 Year/$330M contract with the Phillies a little over a year ago. While the price of that contract may cause concerns due to the luxury tax, you have to ask yourself, was Bryce Harper worth it? Well, their record did improve by just a single game. Year one with the former MVP was a trial year so to say. Great things take time. He had to get acclimated not just with the team, but the city too. Ultimately, Bryce Harper had a really good season. He had a bit of a slow start initially, but after getting a few at bats behind him, he warmed up and was able to actually lead the team in runs (98) and RBI’s (114). The Phillies had a great rotation of hitters and they still do this season. The problem all season long last season was pitching. Starting Pitcher Aaron Nola had a solid season but he showed a little fatigue and he can’t do it single handedly. The Phillies brought in Pitcher Zach Wheeler from the Mets. He just may be the X-Factor in Philadelphia. Look for Pitching to be better this season. The Phillies should be a playoff team this year.
Texas Rangers (78-84) AL West
Things didn’t go quite well for the Rangers last season. They finished 6 games below .500 (78-84), so they’re hoping to turn things around this season. Their offense last season ranked pretty much in the middle of the pack. They wasn’t great at bat so they were forced to steal a ton of bases all season long. To make matters worse, they gave up a ton of hits last season too. They were in the top 5 in hits allowed. Everyone looked forward to playing against the Rangers just because of the simple fact it was almost like batting practice for them. The Rangers just wasn’t a great team last year but they still flirted around being at .500 all season long. Being in the AL West isn’t going to help their cast this upcoming season. The Houston Astros and the Oakland Athletics are still going to win a ton of games. The Rangers are still going to continue to build and rest their hopes upon their future rather than the present.
San Francisco Giants (77-85) NL West
Last year marked their 3rd straight season with a losing record. The San Francisco Giants finished 77-85, but the question is will things get any better? Well, losing a Pitcher as good as Madison Bumgarner doesn’t help the case. Pitcher Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija will have some big shoes to fill there. Even the loss of Relier Pitcher Will Smith is one that stings a bit. The Giants are slated to give up a lot of hits this season. The hardship for this team is the fact that we had this pandemic. It hurts us all in our everyday lives but it’s really going to hurt this ball club because time and reps is something that the Giants need but something they won’t particularly have or get this year. With just a 60 game season, it’s going to be extremely hard for them to find some sort of rhythm unless they somehow come out the gates swinging hard. Offense was something they struggled with last season as they ranked in the bottom 5 in total offense. They just couldn’t get the job done. That may be why Kevin Pillar jetted out of town to sign with the Red Sox. That’s a lot of production that has left the club as he led the team in Hits, RBI’s, and HR’s last season. Billy Hamilton was a good addition but he isn’t nearly as productive as Kevin Pillar was. The offense hasn’t improved much and the pitching will be even worst then the offense this season. With just 60 games, It’s going to be a quick but long season for the Giants. They will struggle to produce on both sides of the ball. The Giants may be the one team that wish the season was just cancelled.
