Spring is in the air. At least in most of the country. Me, I’m in New York, which means today it’s kind of hailing but two days ago it was 70 degrees. So it goes.
In any event, baseball has arrived. Real baseball. Not that spring training garbage plastered all over your Twitter timeline. The 2016 season got underway Sunday and, man, are there are a ton of reasons to be excited about that. Too many to count. That doesn’t mean we can’t try, though. Here are 16 reasons to be excited for about the upcoming Major League Baseball season.
1. The Cubs are really good
Is this the year they — finally — break that damn Billy Goat Curse? Baseball can be weird sometimes and so you never know. But going into the season there’s no denying that, on paper, the Cubs have the best team in baseball. They won 97 games last year and added Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist to an already-punchy lineup featuring myriad young studs who we can assume will only get better this year. Sure, there’s a good chance Jake Arrieta falls off a bit (I don’t think he’s the second coming of Pedro Martinez). But there’s so much talent in Chicago it shouldn’t matter. Baseball is just more fun when the Cubs are good. That should make this season a blast.
2. Joe Maddon will be front and center
Speaking of the Cubbies and things that make baseball more fun. Maddon is the game’s best manager and one of the more unique personalities in sports. This is a dude who brings magicians into his clubhouse to help his players relax. Now he’s leading a bunch of kids who have been tabbed as favorites. How will Maddon deal with that, and that damned curse? I’m not sure, but I’m hoping, and betting, that costumes are involved.
3. Bathroom humor will make a glorious return
For this, we have Matt Harvey to thank. Dude is 27 years old and says he has to learn to not hold “it” in.
Harvey says he holds his urine in too long. Has to learn to pee more often.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) March 29, 2016
I know baseball players are generally a bunch overgrown infants and aren’t exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. But this is a whole new level. And the tabloids are going to have a field day.
The @nypost had so many Matt Harvey bladder headline ideas that they mocked up front pages for all of them. pic.twitter.com/DZsmuC7vMX
— Pat Kiernan (@patkiernan) March 30, 2016
4. The Mets rotation of flamethrowers… and Bartolo Colon
There are also plenty of baseball reasons to be amped about watching the Mets play. The rotation should be the best in the majors — and could become one of the greatest ever. Matt Harvey is a stud and he might not even be one of the two best pitchers on his own team. Jacob deGrom has emerged as one of baseball’s top hurlers, but I’m most excited to see what Noah Syndergaard can do in a full season. Oh, and let’s not forget that Bartolo Colon is still around to provide hope for beer league softball players everywhere.
5. Giancarlo Stanton is healthy
No one in baseball hits more home runs, or more impressive types. The numbers have always been there for Stanton; his issue has been health. Here’s a prediction: this is the year Stanton avoids the hamstring pulls and the freak injuries, and instead treats us to a season’s worth of moon blasts.
Also, he gets to spend the season chilling with new Marlins hitting coach Barry Bonds. That itself should lead to oodles of fun.
5. The Marlins vs. Scott Boras battle
That said, it won’t be all smiles and roses in Marlins Park this season. How’s the saying go? What do you get when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? Well, that’s what the battle between Boras and the Marlins will be. It hasn’t been said but we can assume the Marlins have no plans of keeping stud hurler Jose Fernandez around for more than a few years. That’s just how they do things in Miami. And so from their perspective there’s no reason to worry about Fernandez’s innings. What do they care if he blows out his arm in three years? They’ll be done with him by then anyway.
On the other hand, Boras’ job is to get Fernandez that massive payday, meaning he needs him to stay healthy. Neither Boras nor the Marlins give a shit what other people think. Now they have to deal with each other. Forget Batman vs. Superman — this the real Battle of the Century. At least baseball-wise.
6. Bryce Harper might hit 50 home runs, and he doesn’t have time for baseball’s silly unwritten rules
It’s not just that Harper is a superstar. It’s that he’s a once-in-a-generation talent who wants to change how the game is played and perceived. You know all that talk about baseball not appealing to young people? Harper can change that…
7. Yasiel Puig doesn’t have to deal with Don Mattingly anymore
… So can this guy, by the way. Yeah, Puig had a down year last season. But don’t forget this is the same player who hit .296/.382/.480 in his first full season. Puig is an electric talent and should be more comfortable letting it all fly with Mattingly no longer acting like his father.
8. It’s Vin Scully’s last season
No one will ever make sports sounds quite so poetic. It’s hard in today’s social media/#HotTake/backlash/backlash-to-the-backlash world to be beloved by both baby boomers and millennials, and yet Scully has succeeded. We might never see another broadcaster pull that off.
9. We get to hear Brett Phillips giggle
Forget his actual baseball abilities; the Brewers prospect has, perhaps, the greatest laugh in sports history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpG-fUv9vZs
More, please!
10. It’s David Ortiz’s last season, and maybe Ichiro and A-Rod too
We know Ortiz is walking away after the year. We assume Ichiro, who needs just 65 hits to get to 3,000, is as well. And A-Rod, well, we’re not going to pretend to know what’s going in that head. It’s pretty cool, though, that these three all-time greats are still around and still performing at decent levels (at least A-Rod and Ortiz are). And while we’re on the topic of Alex Rodriguez…
11. Carlos Correa is A-Rod 2.0
He’s just 21 and played in just 99 Major League Baseball games — and he might already be the best shortstop in baseball. He’s built like a house but can move, too. How many shortstops — or baseball players for that matter —are the same size as JJ Watt?
When @JJWatt and @TeamCJCorrea met. #HTownPride pic.twitter.com/dlAofO0kcf
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 30, 2015
Correa hit .279/.345/.512 last season with 22 home runs and 14 stolen bases. Many have pegged the Astros as AL West favorites and Correa is the primary reason why.
12. Juan Uribe has a full-time job
Here, via the New York Times, is all you need to know about the new Mariners third baseman:
“Last season, Juan Uribe, then with the Mets, mixed his smokeless tobacco with honey and Kahlua, kept it in a large plastic bag and shared it with other players.”
God bless baseball players.
13. The Royals have changed the game
The reigning champs have become the antithesis to the three true outcome (home run, strikeout, walk) trend that has taken over baseball. They win by being better at putting the ball in play and then relying on their defense to get you out. They’re a joy to watch and they’re another team that doesn’t care about unwritten rules. Strikeouts are exciting, but the game is much more fun when balls are, you know, actually being hit. No one does this better than the Royals.
14. The White Sox will be lost at sea without Drake Laroche
Drake, the son of first baseman Adam, was a leader in the clubhouse. Will Chicago be able to overcome his banishment? If you go by what guys like Chris Sale and Adam Eaton are saying, it could be tough.
https://twitter.com/MattAbbatacola/status/711187404862849024
15. Curt Schilling is back on ESPN — and it’s an election year!
Somewhere, someplace, some ESPN executive is sweating profusely at the thought of Schilling being handed a microphone in this Age of Trump.
16. Because it’s the summer and what the hell else are you going to do?
Go ahead and follow ESPN’s contrived NFL training camp storylines, or obsess over the massively fraudulent and immoral spectacle known as the Olympics if you like. Me, I’ll take baseball. It’s far from perfect. But there are new sheriffs in town and it’s been years since the sport has been this fun.
