5/22-5/28 Weekly Update

What a week of baseball! We are approaching memorial day. The weather is getting warmer here in Indiana. The beer is getting colder, grill's are firing up, and school is out. Personally, I can't wait to see if MLB strikes out on this year's camo uniforms. Speaking of colors, as mentioned in the previous articles, things are starting to take shape around the league.

For starters, shout out to Liam Hendricks for beating cancer and returning to the show!!

Jorge Soler! 6 bombs in a week?! Personally, I love the Cubs. I am a third generation loveable loser, and it makes me sad, to see that it is not in a Cub's uniform. He realized his potential in 2019 with KC and mashed 48 home runs. In more recent times, he was a post season hero for Atlanta during their world series run. Can he keep this up and post another career year? I sure hope so! I love watching this guy succeed. Swing hard in case you hit it right?

Speaking of 2019, I bet the Oakland A's wish they could turn back the clock. Too bad they can't. 10 games played, 10 losses. Ownership is clearly ready to pack up and move to Vegas. Maybe the players are starting to help load the moving truck? To be fair, they did play at Seattle for 4 games and the remaining 6 were against the Astros. Even with their starting pitching injuries, their offense is still top 5 in baseball. The return of Altuve makes them even stronger. No doubt that Oakland will post a better 10 game stretch next round but it will probably be minimal improvement.

As for Houston, they posted the best record over the last 10 games. 8-2. The return of Altuve absolutely plays a factor. Their pitching is also showing their true capability, especially the bullpen. At this rate, they will take over the lead in the AL West, which is exactly where they belong. Texas and LA are mostly bark. As much as the world would love to see Trout back in the postseason, its not looking great.

I wouldn't be fair to just highlight a hitter and leave out pitching. Two guys come to mind, both with current or former ties to the Reds. Hunter Greene dealt against the Cubs completing 6 no hit innings and punching 11 tickets. His previous start was solid as well from the K prospective but the Yankees were able to take advantage of his youth and put up 4 runs. By no means is this a bad start, he still gave them the chance to win and punched 10. Luis Castillo pitched consecutive quality starts, allowing 0 runs and punching 18 along the way. You could say that he had 2 easy matchups, Oakland and Pittsburg, and that it played a huge factor. However, he did exactly what he was suppose to do and dominated. There would be a much bigger story if he got rocked by both teams.

As for memorial day and the week to follow, there are some exciting matchups moving forward. SEA plays NYY and TEX. NYY gets SEA and LAD. I'll be tuning in for sure! Also, the Yankees finally gave up on Aaron Hicks. Man, If I were them, I would be calling Miami for Soler or Oakland for Rooker. Both players are streaky but Yankee stadium would serve them well!

Catch y'all on the next round!

--Andrew Solliday