HOW ARE THEY
FARING?
At this point, the cognitive dissonance is over: We’re now
used to seeing all these veteran players in their new uniforms. Bryce Harper is
settling into his Phillies duds; Manny Machado looks just right with the
Padres; how did it take this long for Paul Goldschmidt to put on a Cardinals
uniform? We’ve seen these instances long enough for our eyes to adjust.
Thus, it has probably been long enough to take a look at how
the new guys are doing. So, today, we look at how the most high-profile
addition on each team is settling in and how they’re performing in their new
uniform for their new team. There’s a long way to go. But first impressions do
count.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
EAST
BLUE JAYS -- MATT
SHOEMAKER, RHP: It has been since 2014 that
Shoemaker had his terrific rookie year (at the age of 27) for the Angels. He’s
well on his way to his best season since then, giving up just two earned runs
in his first three starts (all wins) for the Blue Jays. His strikeout rate
ticked up last season and he has carried over the results in Toronto so far.
ORIOLES -- DWIGHT SMITH
JR., LF: The Orioles aren’t exactly stacking up
their roster specifically for this season, but the March trade with Toronto for
Smith Jr. (who had been designated for assignment anyway) is the sort of
lottery ticket play that they should be going for right now. The early returns
are … early, with Smith hitting .259 with a couple of homers and, perhaps most
important, a regular lineup spot.
RAYS -- CHARLIE
MORTON, RHP: Morton was such a logical play for the
Rays that it should come as no surprise that he’s thriving. But thriving he is,
with just five earned runs given up in four starts so far. And his strikeout
rate is up again, for the third consecutive season.
RED SOX -- COLTEN BREWER,
RHP: The Red Sox were notably quiet on the transaction front this
offseason, a decision we may be seeing some of the aftereffects from in their
slow start. But their mostly-ignored November trade with the Padres for Brewer
hasn’t burnished their bullpen much: Brewer has been tagged for five runs in 5
2/3 innings. His ERA is still lower than Chris Sale’s, Rick Porcello’s and
Nathan Eovaldi’s though.
YANKEES -- JAMES PAXTON,
LHP: Paxton has been as alternately dominating and frustrating as
Mariners fans had learned, looking fantastic and inconsistent in equal measure.
But when you’re looking at the reasons for the Yankees’ slow start, he’s not
necessarily one of them.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
CENTRAL
INDIANS -- CARLOS
SANTANA, 1B: You really can go home again with
Santana back to his old self in Cleveland; when your OBP is hovering around
.500, no one’s going to complain
about Fortnite, or anything else.
ROYALS -- BILLY
HAMILTON, CF: Hamilton isn’t just hitting .237 with
no extra base hits … he is somehow fifth on the Royals in steals.
TIGERS -- JOSH HARRISON,
2B: The longtime Pirate was supposed to provide some veteran
leadership for the Tigers, but he is hitting just .135 with one extra base hit
in 59 plate appearances.
TWINS -- NELSON CRUZ,
DH: The ageless slugger hasn’t been knocking the ball out of the park
-- he only has one long ball on the year -- but he has been an on-base machine
and the best offensive player on a first-place team.
WHITE SOX -- YONDER ALONSO,
1B: Bringing in Alonso didn’t persuade Manny Machado to come to town,
and it hasn’t made a huge difference offensively for the White Sox either:
Alonso is hitting .143 in the middle of the Sox order.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
WEST
ANGELS -- JUSTIN BOUR,
1B: He was supposed to be a power threat who would both protect Mike
Trout and push Albert Pujols for playing time, but he’s only hitting. 186 with
one homer. The best Angels lineup addition has actually been Brian Goodwin, who
was added on waivers last month from Kansas City and is currently hitting .333.
ASTROS -- MICHAEL
BRANTLEY, LF: Brantley fits in as perfectly as we
all thought he would in the middle of that Houston lineup. He actually looks
like he has been an Astro forever already, no?
ATHLETICS -- KENDRYS
MORALES, DH: Morales hasn’t provided much of the pop
that the A’s had been hoping for, though Khris Davis has more than enough pop
for everyone, apparently.
MARINERS -- EDWIN
ENCARNACION, DH: The Mariners brought in so many new
players that it’s tough to pick just one, but Encarnacion must feel right at
home with all these homers his new Mariners teammates are hitting: He has four
himself.
RANGERS -- LANCE LYNN, RHP: The
Rangers brought in a gaggle of veteran starters over the last two years (hello,
Mike Minor, Edinson Volquez, Drew Smyly and Shelby Miller), but Lynn figures to
be around the longest, having just signed a three-year pact. All these guys are
pitching about the same: Average, or a little worse.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
EAST
BRAVES -- JOSH
DONALDSON, 3B: The Braves weren’t expecting
MVP-esque Donaldson right away, but at $23 million for a one-year deal, they
wouldn’t have minded seeing it either. Donaldson has gotten off to a slow-ish
start, but he started heating up this past week and does look mostly healthy,
which is probably all that matters at this point.
MARLINS -- CURTIS
GRANDERSON, OF: The Marlins appeared to bring
Granderson aboard with the idea of flipping him at the Trade Deadline to a
contender who could use a left-handed-hitting power bat, and while he’s not off
to the best start, any contender worth their salt will see value in the beloved
vet come pennant chase time.
METS -- ROBINSON CANO,
2B: Cano is off to a downright frigid start for the Mets; he homered
in his first at-bat on Opening Day but has only three extra-base hits since.
Fortunately for him and his desire to see his name not on the backpage of the
tabloids, everything else on the Mets is going so swimmingly that few have even
noticed. (There is also the fact that Edwin Diaz, who came alongside Cano from
Seattle in the same trade, has converted all five of his save chances thus far
while allowing one run in seven appearances.)
NATIONALS -- PATRICK
CORBIN, LHP: It may have felt like overkill when the
Nationals signed Corbin to their already stacked rotation, but you can’t argue
with the idea at this point. He has been the Nats’ best starter so far, with a
2.84 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 19 innings.
PHILLIES -- BRYCE HARPER,
RF: He has always been a fantastic April hitter, but he couldn’t have
picked a better April to explode out of the gate than his first of 13 in
Philadelphia. His hot start and his endearing, clear desire to make everyone in
Philadelphia love him, has overshadowed that Andrew McCutchen has been solid
his first few weeks in Philly as well.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CENTRAL
BREWERS -- YASMANI
GRANDAL, C: Grandal was a very Brewers acquisition:
Quiet, stealth, surgical, taking advantage of a market inefficiency. Like last
year’s acquisitions of Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain, it’s working out
fabulously. He’s in fact ahead of Yelich in multiple major statistical
categories.
CARDINALS -- PAUL
GOLDSCHMIDT, 1B: He has slowed a bit after those
three homers in his second game as a Cardinal … but, suffice it to say, no
one’s worried about Goldschmidt.
CUBS -- BRAD BRACH, RHP: Brach
has never been known for his control -- he has only walked fewer than three
batters per 9 once in his career -- but 10 walks in his first 6.2 innings as a
Cub was not what president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and company had
in mind.
PIRATES -- MELKY CABRERA,
RF: Pirates fans might have wanted some more high-profile additions,
but anyone they might have brought in sure would struggle to match what Melky’s
doing: He’s hitting .390, and even holding his own in right field.
REDS -- YASIEL PUIG,
RF: Fans spent the offseason wondering what kind of damage Puig might
do to Great American Ball Park. So far: None. He’s hitting .163 and hit his
first home run Sunday during the Mexico Series, away from his home park.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
WEST
DIAMONDBACKS -- ADAM JONES, RF: Why
did teams wait so long to sign Jones again? He’s got four homers already and is
hitting far above .300. His defense even looks a little spry now that no one
expects him to play center field anymore.
DODGERS -- A.J. POLLOCK,
CF: Pollock has limped out of the gate so far for the Dodgers, but
that’s bad nomenclature right there: He’s not limping at all, and a healthy
Pollock always comes around.
GIANTS -- KEVIN PILLAR,
CF: Sure, I’m counting Pillar, even though he was just traded early in
the season. He looks great in a Giants uniform, with more than half his hits
with the Giants being homers so far. A walk would eventually be nice, though.
PADRES -- MANNY MACHADO,
3B: Machado’s bat is still working its way into shape -- it certainly
hasn’t been bad, but he’s not been, say, Harper so far -- but that play he made
at third base Friday may have been worth his contract on its own.
ROCKIES -- DANIEL MURPHY,
1B: Like the Red Sox, the Rockies thought that bringing back last
year’s playoff team would suffice just fine, particularly if they added a
high-profile extension (Nolan Arenado for Colorado, Sale and Xander Bogaerts
for Boston) to the mix. The Rockies did make one notable signing in Murphy, who
was expected to fill the gap left by DJ LeMahieu. Of course, while LeMahieu has
been stellar for the Yankees, Murphy went 1-for-10 in his first two games for
the Rockies before suffering a
broken finger that will keep him out until May.
