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Benjamin

Today is Wednesday, February 14th, and not only is it Valentine’s Day, but it is the 1st official day of spring training. Coincidence? I think not. How can you not be romantic about baseball?

“Who is Fabio? He’s a shortstop. He’s a shortstop for Seattle.”-Moneyball. See? Romance 

That’s right, Pitchers and Catchers have officially reported! We are so back. Play my music.

This is honestly my favorite time of year. February is already half over, the feeling of Spring (and our will to live) is finally coming back, and you can finally hear the pop of all those gloves. And, as always, with Spring comes new hope for your team! Unless you are the A’s. Poor guys. There’s always the option to burn it to the ground and move…oh wait…that city doesn’t want you either. Anyways, I digress. Let’s get to it. 


THE TIGERS 

I can feel it. This has been a good year for me and my sports teams (UofM bball doesn't count cuz theyre not a real team. Get bent Juwan). The Michigan Wolverines won a National Championship, the Lions won their Division for the first time since the HW Bush Administration/made it to the NFC Championship game, and the Tigers….will win 84 games. Progress! 

I do believe that the Tigers will be improved this year. While they didn’t make any flashy moves, they did add some key pieces, especially pitching depth. Here are the Tigers’ FA acquisitions/trades this year so far:

  1. Kenta Maeda-2yrs, $24 million. Maeda was with the Twins last year and is a solid middle of the rotation arm that will get you the innings that you need. He is an excellent veteran addition and will only help us if healthy. 

  2. Jack Flaherty-1yr, $14 million. This one I am not a huge fan of, but whatever. In Chris Fetter we trust. Previous All-Star for the Cardinals, but hasn’t really had it the past two years. Idk. 

  3. Mark Canha-Traded to the Tigers from the Brewers.This is probably my favorite Scott Harris move of the offseason. Canha is a 9-year vet with double-digit homerun power and a surefire command of the strike zone. He has a .364 OBP and a 120 WRc+ since 2018. WIll be a solid outfield/dh option. 

Overall, the Tigers will be better, and I am excited to see it. This is the first time we will get to see a full, *healthy* season of Greene/Tork/Carpenter. AKA, the Bash Bros. We have AJ Hinch locked up for the long term and we just gave our electric rookie prospect a nice extension. Things are looking up. I need them to…I can’t go back to 2019.

PREDICTIONS FOR 2024

Opening Day Lineup: 

  1. Parker Meadows (CF)

  2. Mark Canha (LF)

  3. Spencer Torkelson (1B)

  4. Kerry Carpenter (DH)

  5. Riley Greene (RF)

  6. Javy Baez (SS)

  7. Jake Rogers (C)

  8. Matt Veirling/Andy Ibanez (3B)

  9. Colt Keith (2B)

Staring Rotation: 

  1. Tarik Skubal

  2. Kenta Maeda

  3. Matt Manning 

  4. Jack Flaherty 

  5. Casey Mize/Reese Olsen 

Overall Record: 

84-78

Players to watch: 

  1. Colt Keith-Our electric rookie-phenom 2nd baseman has lights out power and bat-to-ball skills. Watch him closely this year. Could be fun 

  2. Casey Mize-My boy is finally back from TJ and I hope he rebounds. 

  3. Javy Baez-Boooooooooo this man. I need him to be able to hit a fastball again. He reported early to Spring Training so lets hope he can get his head out of his ass and stop swinging at sliders 456 miles from the plate. 

Bold Predictions: 

  1. Tork hits 42 bombs

  2. Skubal leads AL Central in strikeouts

  3. Parker Meadows steals 35 bags

  4. Colt Keith wins ROY


AROUND THE MLB

Man, it has been quite the offseason. Here are just a few things from me that I found interesting or teams to watch. 

  1. Shohei Ohtani signed for 10-yrs, SEVEN HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS. But deferred $680 Mil until the contract expires in 2033. Just like the dodgers deferred their losses until then 

  2. Dodgers also signed the following stars: Teoscar Hernandez, Jason Heyward (a dying star), Tyler Glasnow, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Unreal.

  3. Don’t count out the Diamondbacks. They are legit again this year. Corbin Carrol is that dude. 

  4. Cubs signed Shota Imanaga and look like a halfway decent team (hi, Nick) 

  5. White Sox are gonna be TRASH and I am here for it. 

  6. A’s might not win 20 games this year. 


BASEBALL!!

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WTSBaseball is a new semi-regular blog by Ben Koval and the WTSB Team. Follow along with us as we chronicle the 2024 MLB season. There will be more exciting things to come as the season progresses!