Six new players have joined to show how active the Braves are this season.
We’re barely two weeks into the MLB season, and there have already been a few shocks, ranging from a still-unbeaten team to a superpower struggling to get started. What has piqued our interest to the point where it has become must-see television? Even if you’ve established a routine with your go-to teams and players, prepare to broaden your horizons.
We asked MLB analysts Bradford Doolittle, Alden Gonzalez, Kiley McDaniel, Jeff Passan, Jesse Rogers, and David Schoenfield to tell us who has our entire attention everytime they enter the field and why.
We’re only two weeks into the MLB season, and there have already been a few surprises, ranging from a team that is still unblemished to a superpower that is failing to get started. What has caught our interest to the point where it is now required viewing on television? Prepare to widen your horizons, even if you’ve formed a habit with your go-to teams and players.
We asked MLB analysts Bradford Doolittle, Alden Gonzalez, Kiley McDaniel, Jeff Passan, Jesse Rogers, and David Schoenfield to tell us who they are watching and why.
Baseball fans appreciate offense, and the Braves are my pick to lead the majors in runs scored – and they’ll do it with a dynamic core of young and in-season players. Ronald Acuna Jr. and Michael Harris II have a good chance of becoming only the third pair of 30-30 teammates in Major League Baseball history (following Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry of the 1987 Mets and Dante Bichette and Ellis Burks of the 1996 Rockies). Austin Riley has two top-10 MVP finishes in a row. Matt Olson is up there, his hands high and splayed from his body, challenging pitchers to go inside on him. Ozzie Albies is a slugger in the body of a No. 9 hitter.
Gonzalez: It remains to be seen whether these Padres have the depth and precision to live up to great expectations and bring San Diego its first major professional championship – but there is no doubt they will be entertaining. Beginning April 20, we’ll be able to see Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, Manny Machado, and Xander Bogaerts hit back-to-back-to-back on a semi-regular basis, which could be enough to make them baseball’s most interesting club. We’re talking about perhaps the most electric player in the game, arguably the best pure hitter in the game, a potential Hall of Fame third baseman in his prime, and a potential Hall of Fame shortstop in his prime.
McDaniel: The O’s are leading the majors in stolen bases after finishing middle of the pack last season, which speaks to their speed and ability to make adjustments, both things that tend to come with youth. If that wasn’t enough, they’re also in the top five in the AL in slugging percentage after finishing in the middle of the pack last year in that stat as well. Power and speed and youth are all fun, but there are swing-and-miss waiver claim types who can technically do that.
These O’s have the best farm system in baseball, and half of those best young prospects are on this team right now. Baltimore has one of the best systems at developing position players, and we might be seeing that happen at the big league level, too. The pitching is behind at the moment, but that just means there’s more scoring, upping the fun factor (if you aren’t a die-hard fan).
Arizona Diamondbacks
Rogers: The Diamondbacks are hitting just .253 as a team — not exactly exciting stuff — but that only makes their National League-leading 12 stolen bases that much more interesting. Just imagine if/when they start to roll at the plate. They can turn any game into a track meet with their speed and will likely win a lot of contests using that skill. And heading into the season, the Diamondbacks organization had the second, fourth and eighth overall prospects among Kiley McDaniel’s top 100. By definition, that makes for an exciting franchise
Doolittle: Franco has been the next big thing in hitting since the day he was tagged with an 80-grade hit tool as a prospect. This season, he looks like a super-talented young player who might be embodying his superstar potential. He’s getting pitches to hit, hitting the ones he swings at and mashing the ball when he makes contact, which is almost always. Franco isn’t the only reason the Rays have looked almost unbeatable over the season’s opening days, but he has been the avatar for that dominance. If you love hitting, you won’t find a hitter doing anything more special than Franco is right now.
Schoenfield: Let’s not overthink this. Don’t get too cute. It’s Rodriguez, the 22-year-old superstar with the smile that lights up the Space Needle. He missed a year of development time in 2020. He skipped past Triple-A last season with only 46 games above High-A. No problem. He was one of the best players in the league in 2022, finishing seventh in the MVP voting as he became just the third rookie with at least 25 home runs and 25 steals. Yeah, some guy named Mike Trout was the last one to do it. Rodriguez hit 27 home runs over his final 99 games, a 40-homer pace over a full season. The Seattle Mariners also plan to let him run again, making a 40/30 or even 40/40 season a possibility.
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