Kuzul

A number of players in the big leagues can wow fans with their performances on the field, but some of them also have incredibly interesting backstories about their road to the major leagues.

Many players have had to deal with personal issues or injuries and have persevered to reach the MLB. Movies have been made about players like this in the past, such as The Rookie, which was based on Jim Morris’ career.

That film was seen by a number of people and made over $75 million (h/t IMDB). Baseball fans would certainly be interested in other films like this.

Begin Slideshow

There aren’t many instances where an 0-for-3 batting performance—even in spring training—creates a positive outlook, but Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols’ preseason debut may be the outlier.

The 33-year-old slugger, who had offseason knee surgery in October, made his semi-triumphant return to the lineup versus the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. He went 0-for-3 and left a runner on base before being replaced by Kole Calhoun. It would be a wholly unspectacular happenstance of an always over-analyzed spring session—if only Pujols weren’t returning from that knee surgery before expected.

CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman was the first to report Pujols’ return to the lineup, indicating he was “well ahead of schedule” in his recovery.

Now, granted, there is still a ton of work to do. Pujols’ return got him some action against live pitching, but he’s still yet to be running the bases in a full capacity. And, of course, there’s the fact that he went 0-for-3 and looked like a player who was just hoping to scrape even the tiniest sliver of rust off of his game.

However, any strain of positivity is a good sign—especially for a man who may be under the most pressure in baseball this season.

As most know, Pujols’ first season in the Greater Los Angeles Area was disappointing at best. He finished with a slash line of .285/.343/.516, all of which set career lows for the nine-time All-Star. Pujols also set career lows in home runs (30), isolated power (.231) and walk rate (7.8 percent), per Fan Graphs. All of that wouldn’t have been so bad in an isolated sense, except that Pujols was in just the first season of a 10-year, $240 million contract.

Optimists are quick to point out that Pujols returned mostly to form after a nightmarish April. In 2012’s first month, Pujols failed to hit a home run, drove in just four runs and had a slash line of .217/.265/.304. He wound up recovering to put up those aforementioned season-long numbers, which subsided many of the worries about Pujols’ contract and made many think he is a guaranteed bounce-back candidate for 2013.

There just remains a couple cracks in that theory. First, Pujols’ April stats still count. April games are just as meaningful as ones in September in the standings. And speaking of September, for all of the talk of Pujols’ remarkable comeback down the stretch, he hit just one home run in the season’s final full month.

Everything counts. You can’t just cut out two entire months of the season and say those are who a particular player is. Statistics have proven over time that there is no correlation between a big second half and a stellar next season, so we can rule that out as well.

Coming into 2013, knee injury or not, Pujols has the responsibility of living up to his contract—and that has to come with severe pressure, even for a player of his caliber.

In the life of a major league slugger, the difference between franchise-altering centerpiece and walking price tag is minimal—just ask Alex Rodriguez. The New York Yankees would probably give up their proverbial second child to get out of Rodriguez’s contract, which pays him no less than $114 million over the next five seasons. His contract and regression in play has made him something of a pariah in his home stadium—something Pujols can likely relate to after being booed in Los Angeles last season.

You find out the hard way that loyalty doesn’t carry over from city to city in this business.

Obviously, that’s not to falsely use sweeping generalizations to say Rodriguez’s decline and Pujols’ possible decline are the same. Much of the scorn Rodriguez receives in New York and around the country is based on actions of his own doing. Whether fair or not, when you have celebrity girlfriends on par with Madonna and get embroiled in steroid scandals, the media will react like a great white shark surrounded by a sea of chum. That’s just the way things work.

Pujols, like all players in today’s era, has seen his name come up in wild speculation about performance-enhancing drug use, but has never been linked to banned substances nor failed a drug test. And his off-field life is more notable for humanitarian work than dating middle-aged celebrities.

The two are, however, comparable from a pure baseball perspective. Like Rodriguez, Pujols was considered the greatest singular talent in the sport when signing his contract. And like the Yankees, the Angels expect to see some records broken over the life of that contract.

Based on his performance last season, all eyes in the Angels organization will be laser-focused on Pujols. 

Pujols’ 2013 season isn’t about whether he’s overpaid. It’s highly likely that, much like many other 30-plus-year-old players, his skills will erode enough to make him wildly overpaid toward the end of his deal. The Angels knew that when they signed the first baseman on the precipice of turning 32 to a 10-year contract last winter. If the Angels—or anyone for that matter—think for a second the team will get $29 million worth of value from Pujols in 2020, then Merriam-Webster needs to invent a word that goes beyond the scope of what “gullible” currently allows.

Pujols earns the back-end of that contract by being an ascendant talent now. He earns it by producing a WAR far superior to the 3.9 he put up last season. He earns it by being an every-year MVP candidate for the next half-decade and not putting up stats equivalent to Billy Butler’s.  

Returning from injury early is the first step in earning that process. It’s an admittedly minuscule one—one that could go the way of the dodo if Pujols re-injures himself by returning to game action before he was 100 percent.

But for now, it’s a good sign. No matter how small, each triumph can pile up, just as each failure did a year ago. Pujols’ relationship with the Angels fans and franchise started in just about the worst way possible.

Returning to the lineup on Tuesday was a solid sign that there may be light emanating out of this $240 million tunnel.  

Follow @tylerconway22

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

After an early exit from the playoffs last season, the Washington Nationals won’t have an easy road back this year, with a number of teams in the MLB poised for a trip to the World Series.

Arguably the best team in the regular season in 2012, the Nationals are ready to make a deep push into the playoffs, but several other teams have that same goal.

While Washingotn has made a number of solid moves in the offseason, including the signings of outfielder Denard Span and reliever Rafael Soriano, other teams have made equally impressive moves.

These include teams in both the National League and American League, so if the Nationals are able to go where they’ve never gone before, they’re opponent will likely be just as tough as the St. Louis Cardinals were in the National League Division Series.

These are the teams who pose the greatest threat to the Nationals on their quest to a World Series championship in 2013.

Begin Slideshow

Spring training is rapidly approaching and Opening Day is on the horizon. Teams will begin flocking to their respective training camps with a clear mind and with hopes of winning their respective divisions and make a deep push into October.

But when word spreads regarding the findings from an anti-aging clinic in Miami on Tuesday, some division favorites could be in trouble before the season officially begins.

NL East

The Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves could go first and second in the National League East Division this season.

The Nationals are the reigning division champions after finishing last season with a mark of 98-64, the best record in all of baseball. Not to mention, the Nationals boasted the best road record among any major league club.

Washington led the NL with a 3.33 ERA, which was second best in all of baseball last season.

That could change if Commissioner Bug Selig decides to dish out penalties to those players revealed on the report from the anti-aging clinic in Miami.

Among those named in the report is Nationals starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez. According to the story on ESPN.com, Gonzalez—who recorded 21 wins in 2012—appears five times on the report.

If Gonzalez is indeed penalized for his actions, then the Nationals will be in major trouble without their most reliable pitcher.

NL Central

It appears the National League Central Division will be a two-team race between St. Louis and Cincinnati.

No surprise there.

The Cardinals have reached postseason play four times in the last seven seasons, including two World Series championships and a pair of division titles. The Reds have won the division two of the last three seasons.

Cincinnati traded for center fielder Shin-Soo Choo from Cleveland and re-signed free-agent slugger Ryan Ludwick. The Reds also locked up free-agent hurler Jonathan Broxton, who may serve as the team’s closer depending on whether or not fireballer Aroldis Chapman is inserted into the starting rotation.

The Cardinals were relatively quiet this winter. Their lone offseason addition was left-handed reliever Randy Choate, who signed a three-year, $7.5 million contract in December.

If the Reds rotation holds up, they will be tough to beat in the Central.

NL West

The Giants will surely make a run to defend their World Series championship in 2013.

They re-signed right fielder Hunter Pence, who should provide some pop in the batting order to accompany Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey.

But the team to beat in 2013 will be the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers signed free agent starter Zack Greinke, who has won 31 games in the last two seasons.

It’s not likely that sluggers Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and Carl Crawford will drastically decline at the plate, either.

AL East

The Yankees were thought to be the early favorites to win their third consecutive American League East Division crown.

But the aftermath regarding the findings from the anti-aging clinic in Miami could drastically alter this prediction.

Alex Rodriguez was expected to miss a portion or perhaps the entire regular season after undergoing hip surgery.

But now, the three-time AL Most Valuable Player could be facing another penalty. According to the report on ESPN.com, Rodriguez’s name appears on the report 16 times.

Rodriguez hit 18 home runs and notched 57 RBI while batting .272 for the Yankees last season.

If Rodriguez is dealt a major penalty for his actions, then the Yankees will be in early trouble.

AL Central

The Detroit Tigers look like the front-runners for the American League Central Division crown.

After getting swept 4-0 in the World Series last October, the Tigers are looking for to embark on a deeper journey into the postseason this time around.

Detroit went out and signed free agent center fielder Torii Hunter with hopes of adding some protection and production to a lineup that boasted the league’s 11th-best offense last season.

Justin Verlander will look to build off of a noteworthy season that saw him win 17 games while fanning 239 batters.

AL West

It would be silly for the Los Angeles Angels not to win the American League West, especially with the loaded lineup they now possess.

The addition of free agent outfielder Josh Hamilton will further boast a batting order that features slugger Albert Pujols and 2012 AL Rookie of the Year Mike Trout.

The Angels will have an explosive offense. That’s almost certain. But a slow start combined with an injury or two could allow the Texas Rangers to jump into the mix and possibly hold on the for good. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The 2012 MLB All-Star Game received another dose of youth on Saturday afternoon when Bryce Harper was tapped to replace Giancarlo Stanton.

Stanton was removed following a Friday injury and is slated for knee surgery on Sunday, July 8.

Harper joins a colorful list of rookie All-Stars. While he will be the youngest position player of all time, he is not the youngest All-Star.

But he’s close.

Following is a list of 10 of the youngest players to make the MLB All-Star roster.

Begin Slideshow

Ready for one of those overused “What if I told you…” lead-ins?

Very well. Here it is: What if I told you before the start of the 2012 season that Albert Pujols would not be the best hitter in the Los Angeles Angels‘ lineup by the time we got to mid-June?

Naturally, you wouldn’t have believed me. But here we are in mid-June, and Prince Albert is plodding along with a .260 batting average and a .753 OPS. If his name wasn’t Albert Pujols, he wouldn’t stand out at all next to his fellow Angels regulars.

There are at least two Angels hitters who are having better seasons than Pujols right now: 20-year-old phenom outfielder Mike Trout and slugging all-purpose man Mark Trumbo. The two of them have been excellent this season, and their numbers put Pujols’ numbers to shame.

Courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs, here are the need-to-know numbers for all three players:

*wOBA is a FanGraphs stat that “measures and captures offensive value more accurately and comprehensively” than batting average, OBP, and slugging percentage.

**oWAR is offensive WAR, a version of WAR that takes defensive contributions out of the equation.

From these numbers, it’s pretty clear that Pujols’ offensive contributions don’t come close to matching those of Trout and Trumbo, who are statistically two of the best hitters in the American League.

How’s that for expert analysis?

Now don’t be alarmed, but I’m reading your mind right now. What you’re thinking is that it’s not fair to compare season numbers seeing as how Pujols basically spent the first six weeks of the season trying to hit marbles with a fishing rod.

Yup, it was that bad. In his first 36 games as an Angel, Pujols hit .212/.248/.288 with a single home run and 14 RBI. It was ugly.

It was so ugly, in fact, that the Angels decided to fire hitting coach Mickey Hatcher in the middle of May. Officially, Hatcher wasn’t fired because of his apparent inability to solve the Pujols mystery, but you didn’t have to be a rocket surgeon to read between the lines.

Hatcher was fired on May 15. Ever since May 16, Pujols has looked much more like his usual self.

Here’s a look at how his key numbers since May 16 compare to those of Trout and Trumbo:

Over the last 30 days, Pujols has a .437 wOBA. Trumbo’s wOBA over the last 30 days is .439 and Trout’s is .447.

So over the last month, Pujols has produced on pretty much the same level as Trout and Trumbo. It’s actually a little uncanny how closely their numbers stack up against one another.

What this tells us is that Pujols’ slump earlier in the season was not brought about by old age or an excess of mileage from his 11-year tenure with the St. Louis Cardinals. The more logical explanations are that he was trying to do too much to live up to his massive contract, and that his mechanics were totally out-of-whack.

The scary part is that Pujols is only getting hotter. Through 10 June games, he’s hitting .361 with a .439 wOBA.

All of these numbers suggest pretty clearly that Pujols is in no way an inferior hitter compared to Trout and Trumbo, and that should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody. In fact, merely saying that borders on stating the obvious.

Between the three of them, Pujols has the best odds of staying on a roll for the rest of the season. He’s locked in at the plate, and he’s had more than enough time to adjust to American League pitching. Furthermore, his track record says that sustained success is in the cards because, well, he’s one of the greatest hitters in baseball history.

There are no such guarantees when it comes to Trout and Trumbo. Trout has had no trouble hitting so far this season, but it’s just a matter of time before teams sniff out and exploit his weaknesses. As good as Trout is, it’s hard to imagine a 20-year-old with limited big league experience hitting .350 for an entire season. That’s a rare occurrence.

Trumbo is a different story because he has considerably more professional experience than Trout, and he already has one full year of big league service under his belt. You can see his experience paying off this season, as he’s just not missing mistake pitches when he gets them.

His numbers are likely to take a hit once pitchers get the gist that it’s not a good idea to challenge him in any way, but he still has plenty of hits and plenty of long balls left in him.

That doesn’t mean he’s a bigger threat than Pujols, though. Both Trout and Trumbo likely wouldn’t dare put themselves on the same level as Pujols, nor should they. They’re just getting started, and he’s a legend.

So the answer to our big question is this: Pujols is most certainly not the third-most dangerous hitter in the Angels’ lineup. He’s done enough over the last month to prove that he can still hit with the best of ’em, including his two younger teammates. At the very least, he is on the same level as Trout and Trumbo.

Because he’s Albert Pujols, you better believe teams are more afraid of him than they are of Trout and Trumbo.

If you want to talk baseball, hit me up on Twitter.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

After a miserable April in which he batted .217/.265/.304 with no home runs and four RBI, Albert Pujols rebounded in May, looking more like the hitter we’ve been accustomed to seeing in his previous 11 major league seasons.

In 123 plate appearances for May, Pujols hit .263/.309/.491 with eight homers and 24 RBI. With those April numbers dragging him down, his numbers for the season still don’t look impressive overall. But whatever was wrong with Pujols’ swing and timing appears to have been smoothed out now. 

So why risk knocking him off balance again? Why give Pujols something else to contend with mentally as he appears to be regaining his focus at the plate? Why play him at third base during interleague play, as the Los Angeles Angels plan to do this upcoming weekend when the team visits the Colorado Rockies?

According to the Los Angeles Times‘ Mike DiGiovanna, the idea is to keep Kendry Morales’ bat in the lineup by playing him at first base, rather than sit him down when the Angels have to play without a designated hitter at Coors Field. That means Pujols will have to move across the diamond to third base, a position he’s barely played since 2002. 

However, I’m not suggesting that Pujols is some delicate flower whose petals will wilt when he’s asked to do something he normally doesn’t do.

Pujols volunteered to play third base last season with the St. Louis Cardinals to prevent Allen Craig from playing second base and to allow Jon Jay to get into the lineup. The man is a team player, and probably didn’t flinch when Angels manager Mike Scioscia asked Pujols if he would play third. (That’s presuming Pujols didn’t volunteer to play third once again.)

But this isn’t the same Pujols we’ve seen in past seasons. If he was hitting the way he always has, moving to third wouldn’t seem like much of a deal.

However, Pujols is currently in sort of a fragile position when it comes to his hitting. He appears to be getting himself right at this point. Giving him something else to think about while he’s on the field could provide a big distraction.

Baseball players talk all the time about wanting to know what their role is, what they’re expected to do when they get to the ballpark each day. The implication is that players will succeed when they don’t have anything else to think about and can just play baseball. Otherwise, once something else gets in their heads while they’re on the field, they begin fighting themselves mentally. 

Pujols hasn’t played third base that often over the course of his career, manning the position for only 104 of his nearly 1,400 career games in the majors. And when he did play there, he wasn’t very good. Perhaps 296 innings at third in 2002 is a small sample size to go on, but based on Ultimate Zone Rating, he was one of the worst defensive third basemen in baseball that season. 

Look at what moving back to third base did to the Detroit Tigers‘ Miguel Cabrera earlier this season. He went through an 0-for-22 stretch in mid-April, a slump he never experienced last year. Sure, any batter can go cold. But is it a coincidence that Cabrera struggled at the plate while returning to a position he hadn’t played in four years? 

Granted, we’re talking about a six-game span at most for Pujols, as opposed to switching positions for an entire season. This isn’t a long-term commitment for the Angels, so if it’s not going well, Pujols can be quickly switched back. 

But if moving him to third base for even just a couple of games messes with Pujols’ hitting approach at all, the consequences for him and the Angels far outweigh whatever convenience they might enjoy during a week of interleague play. 

Follow @iancass on Twitter.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The city of Los Angeles can go back to spinning. After spending a couple weeks on the disabled list with a bad hamstring, Los Angeles Dodgers star centerfielder Matt Kemp will be making his return on Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Dodgers did pretty well in Kemp’s absence, but he’ll be a sight for sore eyes anyway. At the time he went on the DL, Kemp was hitting .359 with 12 home runs. He was batting over .400 as late as May 8.

If Kemp picks up right where he left off, the good people of Southern California are going to get to see something that they haven’t gotten to see yet: Matt Kemp and Albert Pujols both playing well at the same time.

I won’t go so far as to say that the two of them are joined at the hip, but they’re without a doubt the two biggest baseball stars in Southern California. Kemp is arguably the best all-around player in baseball, and Pujols is one of baseball’s all-time great hitters.

We can debate which one of them is the biggest star for hours on end, but instead, let’s ask a different question: Which of them is the more important star in the greater Los Angeles area?

This is a complicated question, and the answer is equally complicated. Before we can get to it, we have to sift through the different circumstances surrounding both players.

Matt Kemp’s Place in Los Angeles

You know what the key difference between Matt Kemp and Albert Pujols is?

It’s simple: Kemp actually plays in Los Angeles.

This is both a blessing and a curse.

It’s a curse because, despite the fact the Dodgers have been there for decades, LA is a basketball town at heart. Everything revolves around the Los Angeles Lakers and, to a lesser extent, the Los Angeles Clippers. Guys like Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul are the biggest sports stars Los Angeles has.

I wouldn’t say Kemp’s quest in life is to take the LA spotlight away from the basketball stars, but he can do wonders for the Dodgers organization by achieving the same level of fame as Kobe, Griffin, CP3, et al.

The good news for Kemp is that the stars are aligned for him to do just that, if he hasn’t already. He is now under the employ of Magic Johnson, one of the most beloved basketball players ever and a huge fan favorite in Los Angeles. Johnson wants to make Dodgers baseball great again. If he succeeds, he’ll force the people of Los Angeles into loving baseball just as much as they love basketball.

So far, so good. According to Baseball-Reference.com, Dodgers attendance is up from 36,052 people per game in 2011 to 38,663 people per game this season. Fans are coming out to the park to watch the Dodgers in greater numbers, and the attendance numbers could only get better and better now that the Lakers and Clippers are both done playing basketball this season.

Kemp is a classic example of an attendance-driver. He’s a superstar player who can do it all on the field, and he also happens to have an endearing personality (his high-profile dating history is very much a plus). He’d bring fans to the park in any city, but he just so happens to be playing in a city that loves its stars (no matter what they do for a living). It helps that Kemp has a kind of swagger perfectly suited for the city of Los Angeles.

And of course, it’s not all about bringing fans to the park. Kemp must put eyes on TV sets as well. It was, after all, television money that paid for his big contract (see Forbes), and people can see the face of the Dodgers franchise better on TV than they can at Dodger Stadium.

All Kemp has to do is what he’s been doing over the last year or so. He’ll keep hogging the spotlight as long as he keeps dazzling out on the diamond, and his legend is only going to grow bigger as the Dodgers win more and more ballgames.

In the meantime, business will keep booming for the under-new-management Dodgers, and baseball’s influence in the city of Los Angeles will get stronger and stronger.

Kemp is the right player in the right place at the right time.

Albert Pujols’ Place in Los Angeles

When the Angels signed Albert Pujols to a massive 10-year contract this offseason, the pay-off was immediate. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Angels sold over 5,000 season tickets immediately after the Pujols signing.

But here’s the rub: Despite those sales, attendance at Angels games is way down this season.

The Angels drew an average of just under 39,000 people last season. So far in 2012, they’re drawing an average of just over 34,000 fans. That’s roughly 5,000 fans a night that aren’t showing up this season, and that’s a discouraging sign for a team that committed over $300 million to free agents this offseason.

To put this in perspective, the Detroit Tigers signed Prince Fielder to a huge contract this offseason, and they’ve benefited from a very impressive attendance spike so far this season.

Pujols’ struggles early in the season didn’t help matters for the Angels. He didn’t hit a home run until May 6, and his bat didn’t really come alive until the Angels fired hitting coach Mickey Hatcher. Up until then, he wasn’t worth the price of admission.

Things are different now, but it may take some time for fans in Anaheim and Los Angeles to start trickling back to Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Perhaps the article Ellen Bell of The Orange County Register wrote urging Angels fans to come back will help.

It’s not entirely up to Pujols to draw fans to the park, but he can definitely help. He just needs to show people that he’s still one of the greatest players of his generation, and he needs to keep showing them that day after day.

And yes, just like with Kemp, Pujols needs to put eyes on TV sets. According to the Los Angeles Times, Pujols’ contract came largely thanks to a new $3 billion TV deal with Fox Sports. The Angels paid for a new franchise face, one that they could show off via their shiny new TV deal.

This is a somewhat of a new challenge for Pujols. He’s an excellent player and a great human being, but he’s never really had to worry about selling a ballclub. For lack of a better word, he was spoiled in St. Louis, as he got to play in front of baseball-crazy fans on a consistent basis. More often than not, he also had the luxury of playing on great Cardinals teams. He was the face of those teams, but he didn’t have to worry about converting anyone.

So if we can take it for granted (or at least imagine) that there is some kind of friendly competition between Pujols and Kemp, Pujols is at a significant disadvantage.

Before he can worry about conquering Los Angeles, Pujols must first conquer Anaheim. And right now, indications are that the locals aren’t impressed.

The Grand Conclusion

Between Kemp and Pujols, there should be little doubt that Kemp is the bigger star in the LA area, but this isn’t a very fair comparison to make. Kemp has had a following in Los Angeles for several years, whereas Pujols is the new guy in town who who doesn’t even play in town. He plays for that other team that likes to act like it’s an LA team.

Kemp’s star status obviously makes him a pretty important figure in the LA sports landscape, but there’s far more at stake when it comes to Pujols and his current situation. It’s on him to sell Angels baseball to a fanbase that has been surprisingly indifferent towards the team so far this season.

If he manages to do that, then he can worry about selling Angels baseball in Dodgers territory, where basketball and Matt Kemp are king. 

The only way he’s going to do that is by letting his bat do the talking. He needs to convince everyone that he is the star baseball attraction in Southern California.

He can do it, but I, for one, wish him luck. He faces a long, uphill climb, and he’s already off to a slow start.

If you want to talk baseball and/or basketball, hit me up on Twitter.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Popular opinion regarding how certain major league teams and players start a season generally holds that all authoritative conclusions made before June 1 are premature. Because teams and players turn cold starts into fine seasons, and hot starts into prolonged slumps, forecasting performance based on the season’s initial third often results in poor predictions. 

All the experts who eulogized David Ortiz’s career at 34 years old in May 2009 certainly learned hard the lesson that two months of at-bats is simply not enough to accurately predict a player’s rest-of-season destiny. If it were, Ortiz might have ended up with something like eight home runs and 50 RBI instead of the 28 and 99 that approximate his career averages.

The season’s first two months, as in all, feature slow-starting household names as well as no-namers lighting pitching staffs on fire.

For those struggling, like Albert Pujols and Tim Lincecum, it is hard to fathom them continuing in their futility. Likewise, it is suspect to assume that the likes of Lance Lynn and Chris Capuano will continue their Cy Young performances throughout the season on the mound.

Superficial stats are often fool’s gold when predicting future success, which is why a glimpse at the underlying vital signs of these 10 players sheds light on just what can be expected from them as the calendar flips to June.

Begin Slideshow

Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper are the future of the Washington Nationals. 

Strasburg will be the ace of a formidable starting rotation for years to come, and Bryce Harper will anchor the outfield and the lineup with his five-tool talent. The future is in good hands. 

Here are seven reasons why the Washington Nationals need to quickly sign both players to long-term contracts to ensure the successful future of the franchise.

Begin Slideshow