Tag: NL West

Paul Goldschmidt: The Best All-Around First Baseman in MLB

First base is one of the deepest positions in all of baseball, possessing an eclectic crop of talent including power hitters such as Edwin Encarnacion and Anthony Rizzo, high-average hitters like Joey Votto and Jose Abreu and some who are just pure hittersMiguel Cabrera and Paul Goldschmidt come to mind.

But if you could pick any of them right now to play first base for a season, who would be the best choice?

The obvious selection would be Cabrera. After all, he won the Triple Crown in 2012 and was the American League MVP in both 2012 and 2013. He is the best pure hitter on the planet, possessing the unique ability to hit for both average and power.

But Cabrera’s 2014 performance really makes him stand out from the rest of the pack. That year, he hit .313 with 25 home runs and 109 RBI in what was labeled a down year. Anybody who can hit over .300 and pass the 25-homer, 100-RBI plateau in a “down year” must be an absolute stud at the plate.

While Cabrera definitely is that, he would not be my choice this season. My selection would be Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, the best all-around first baseman in the league right now.

Not an overly heralded prospect coming out of Texas State, Goldschmidt broke out in 2012, hitting .286 with 20 homers in his first full big league season.

He improved on that in 2013 with MVP-caliber production, racking up a league-leading 36 home runs and 125 RBI while hitting .302. He also led the league in slugging percentage, OPS and OPS+, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

Goldy was on his way to similar numbers last year, but he suffered a fluke injury when he was hit by an Ernesto Frieri fastball in early August, which forced him to miss the final two months of the season. He still finished with a .300 batting average, 19 home runs and an All-Star Game appearance, though, and he was primed for a huge year in 2015.

As expected, he has started this year on a tear. Through 15 games, the slugging first baseman has already hit five home runs, driven in a league-leading 16 runs, scored 13 runs and stolen two bases. He is also getting on base at a stellar .415 clip.

Cabrera is off to a hot start, too, hitting .367 with two home runs so far in 2015. But that doesn’t change the fact that I would want Goldschmidt as my first baseman right now.

Goldschmidt, 27, is five years younger than Cabrera and does not have the injury history that the Tigers slugger has. Cabrera had core surgery after the 2013 season to repair muscles in his groin that connect to the abdomen, and he had ankle surgery this past offseason to remove bone spurs in his right ankle and repair a stress fracture.

While Cabrera seems to have recovered from these injuries without much difficulty, the threat of injury is always there for him. Goldschmidt, however, has not been injured, except for that fluke last year, courtesy of a Frieri fastball.

Goldschmidt is also a better fielder than Cabrera is. Goldy won a Gold Glove in 2013, when his 5.4 Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) was the sixth best in the league among first basemen, according to FanGraphs. Cabrera, on the other hand, has never won any kind of defensive award and has recorded mediocre-at-best defensive metrics throughout his career.

And don’t forget Goldschmidt‘s ability to steal bases. It’s not like he’s Billy Hamilton on the bases, but he stole 15 bases in 2013 and likely would have matched that in 2014 if not for his injury. That’s a high number of steals for a first baseman, and it’s another way that Goldschmidt separates himself from the rest of the pack.

Cabrera is undoubtedly the better pure hitter, but that doesn’t make up for the other areas.

So, taking into account his younger body, his fewer surgeries, his better defensive ability and the fact that he is a legitimate threat to steal bases, Goldschmidt is a better all-around player than Cabrera isand he is the player I would want at first base for one season.

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An Early Look at the Top 3 Dodgers’ Trade Deadline Chips

The 2015 Los Angeles Dodgers have played fewer than 15 games, but it’s never too early to look ahead toward the trade deadline.

President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and General Manager Farhan Zaidi were not shy about tinkering with the roster during the offseason. So it would not be surprising to see midseason deals unfold as the schedule progresses.

While the team currently appears to be set at most positions, there are a few players who might represent intriguing trade chips come July or sooner.

 

Zach Lee

Zach Lee entered last season as the Dodgers’ top pitching prospect, but his stock tumbled due to struggles at Triple-A.

He began 2015 ranked No. 6, behind pitchers Julio Urias and Grant Holmes, according to the team’s website.

Lee’s name has been tossed around the organization ever since Los Angeles pried him away from Louisiana State University with a record signing bonus after the team drafted him 28th overall in 2010.

Despite the lucrative signing bonus, Lee has failed to make a significant impression during his first four years in the minors (32-35 combined record with an ERA hovering around 4).

The Dodgers are now understandably more excited about Urias, a recent Texas League Player of the Week, and Holmes, their first-round pick in last year’s draft.

Lee, who projects as a middle-of-the-rotation starter, is off to a 2-0 start at Triple-A this season. He has struck out 13 in 12 innings while walking just two—a past bugaboo.

If Lee can continue to maintain these kinds of ratios, he would certainly be a candidate to include in a future trade. Teams usually want prospects at the trade deadline, and there doesn’t seem to be a spot for Lee at the major-league level.

The emergence of Urias and Holmes will potentially make it easier for the team to part ways with Lee.

 

Andre Ethier

For the second straight season, veteran outfielder Andre Ethier and his $18 million salary will spend most nights watching the action from the bench.

Rookie Joc Pederson beat out Ethier, 33, for the starting center field job. When healthy, Yasiel Puig is firmly entrenched in right field, while Carl Crawford and Scott Van Slyke are the two primary options in left field.

Nick Cafardo recently gave his thoughts on the situation in an update for The Boston Globe:

Not sure how a $16 million-a-year player can be sitting on the bench for the first three games of the season, but that’s what happened to Ethier. The Dodgers are all ears about a deal, offering help on the remaining $57 million of Ethier’s contract, but no bites. And it’s always tough to deal a guy who isn’t playing regularly.

It’s true. The Dodgers offered to eat half of Ethier’s bloated paycheck in an effort to move the career .285 hitter, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.

Although Ethier has received more playing time than usual in the early going as Puig nurses a hamstring injury, he still remains a fringe contributor in Los Angeles. His .259 average in 11 games does not inspire much confidence, but it at least showcases his abilities as an everyday player to potential suitors.

The Dodgers almost sent Ethier to the Arizona Diamondbacks over the winter, but the deal fell through at the last minute, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

Ethier is in the third season of a five-year, $85-million contract extension.

 

Alex Guerrero

Another member of the team seeking more playing time is Alex Guerrero.

The Dodgers signed the Cuban defector to a four-year, $28-million contract following the 2013 season. He spent most of last season in the minor leagues, and was limited to fewer than 350 total at-bats—in large part because of a dugout fight in which teammate Miguel Olivo bit off his ear. He finished the season batting .329 with 15 home runs at Triple-A.

Entering 2015 without a position, Guerrero made the Opening Day roster as a backup third baseman. A stipulation in his contract allowed him to refuse another demotion to the minors, and so far Guerrero has justified his presence on the roster. He is 5-for-14 with two home runs and eight RBI on the young season.

The Dodgers’ starting third baseman is Juan Uribe, however, who is finishing the final year of his contract. The veteran led all National League third basemen with at least 850 innings in defensive runs saved last season and Los Angeles values his leadership as well. Guerrero is still learning how to play the position, and has been relegated to pinch-hitting duties when Uribe is healthy.

What’s more, the Dodgers recently won the bidding war for fellow Cuban defector Hector Olivera, signing him to a six-year, $62.5-million contract, per Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. Olivera appears to be the heir apparent at the hot corner.

With backup infielder Justin Turner also in the picture, Guerrero may be expendable. Much like Ethier, the Dodgers could focus on showcasing Guerrero’s talents in an attempt to boost his trade value.

The potential is clearly there, but the playing time is not. If manager Don Mattingly sprinkles in more starting opportunities for Guerrero, the 28-year-old might accumulate the stats necessary to warrant league-wide attention in advance of the trade deadline.

“The team does not know what they are going to do, but all I can control is keep working hard and they will get the final word,” Guerrero said, per Sanchez.

 

All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs unless otherwise linked/noted.

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Heralded Giants-Dodgers Rivalry Is Still Worthy of the Hype

LOS ANGELES – Gone are the days of pure hatred, the ones that caused Jackie Robinson to retire rather than play for the rival club, incited epic brawls and sparked beanball wars.

But the rivalry is not dead. Far from it. The fire still exists, as does the success.

Between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, five division titles and three World Series championships have been won in the last five seasons. Each team has had a National League MVP in the last three seasons and a combined five Cy Young Awards in the last seven.

They also play in two of the more gorgeous ballparks in the game—one with an aged charm nestled in a mountainous backdrop, the other a state-of-the-art joint sitting on a bay.

“They have a great place there, but so do we,” Dodgers outfielder Scott Van Slyke said Sunday, two days before the Dodgers’ trip to San Francisco for the teams’ first meeting this season on Tuesday. 

Three World Series runs in five years by the Giants and three consecutive division titles by the Dodgers have given this rivalry a new bounce in its step. But because players shuttle from one team to another on a yearly basis and guys become offseason acquaintances, some of the heat has been extracted from every major league rivalry.

This one is no different, as the two teams have a combined 22 players that are either brand new or relatively new to the rivalry. And aside from Yasiel Puig and maybe Madison Bumgarner, there really are no players on either side that extract authentic venom from the other side, since Buster Posey and Clayton Kershaw are more vanilla superstars.

“Obviously there’s a rivalry,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “You can feel it. There’s intensity that’s different when we play them. 

“As far as players changing teams, that happens all over baseball. So every rivalry is going to feel the turnover. But the fans never change sides.”

And that is where any rivalry truly lives—in the stands, in the bars, among the diehards.

While there have been rare and extreme examples of this rivalry tragically spilling into the fandom—the Bryan Stow beating and the stabbing fatality of Jonathan Denver—fans now argue about things like the Dodgers trying to “buy” a title, or the Giants getting “lucky” in October, and of course, which stadium is a better place to take in a ballgame.

These debates are never truly settled, but Giants fans currently hold the trump card with those three championships that have turned Dodger fans into short-term lovers of the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals over the last five Octobers.

Sitting in the stands of these games, particularly in the outfield bleachers of either stadium, you understand the fervor. While fans usually refrain from wasting beer or souvenirs on players, they loudly spew their hatred with insults aimed at outfielders. And inning after inning, as the visiting team’s fans dare to move about the other team’s stadium, they endure insults unfit for juvenile ears.

“They definitely get a little meaner up there than in other cities,” Van Slyke said of patrolling the outfield at AT&T Park. “And I’m sure their guys hear it when they come here, too.”

The rivalry will evolve in the coming years. The Dodgers and Giants are both pulling in revenue at incredible levels, and while the Dodgers’ ownership has shown a complete willingness to spend it, the Giants’ ownership group has been more reluctant, although they still have a current payroll north of $170 million.

The Dodgers spent part of their last offseason acquiring front-office people to run their club. Andrew Friedman left the Tampa Bay Rays to become the Dodgers president of baseball operations. He then brought in a team of others to fall in line behind him, and together, they are seen as one of the brightest, most analytical front offices in the game today.

Meanwhile, the Giants, known to have a more traditionally run front office, recently reworked their configuration to make former GM Brian Sabean the team’s executive VP of baseball ops through 2019 and former assistant GM Bobby Evans the new GM. Assuming the Giants’ top brass gives the go-ahead to spend more money to keep up with their rivals in the near future, Sabean and Evans will remain the men who determine which players the team will invest in. 

The game’s economics make roster turnover a part of the sport as much as bat flips and beer, but that does not mean rivalries cannot remain heated. And when both teams are fighting for the same kind of success, it is bound to remain as such.

This week’s three-game series in San Francisco is the latest chapter in what has become one of the sport’s best rivalries, on and off the field.

 

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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Padres’ New Star-Studded Lineup Is Living Up to the Hype Early

This past offseason saw the San Diego Padres take all their chips and put them on offense. That’s where they rolled the dice for 2015, and certainly where they needed to be better than they were in 2014.

Here’s guessing that Padres general manager A.J. Preller is out there somewhere pumping his fist in triumph. It’s early yet, but his gamble really couldn’t be going any better.

The Padres earned their ninth win of the young season Monday night against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, and it was a romp. They collected 17 hits and 14 runs, easily outpacing Colorado’s measly total of three runs. In the wake of this romp, guess who’s currently leading the National League in runs scored?

Yup. None other than the Padres with 73. 

As early as it is, it’s hard to ignore the complete 180-degree turn happening before our very eyes. With an average of 5.21 runs per game, the Padres are doing darn near two runs per game better than last year’s average of 3.30. That, as you’ll recall, was easily the lowest average in MLB.

Of course, that number is what prompted Preller to go to work. He was a man on a mission to completely rebuild a lineup over the winter, and the early returns on his effort say he hit all the right notes.

The three big additions Preller made were to his outfield. He traded for veteran sluggers Matt Kemp and Justin Upton to play the corners, and for 2013 American League Rookie of the Year Wil Myers to man center field.

None of the three has been a disappointment. Though Kemp and Myers have only two home runs combined to Upton’s three, FanGraphs can vouch that all three rate as above-average hitters in adjusted offense (meaning wRC+, a stat where anything over 100 denotes above-average hitting):

San Diego’s new-look outfield owns a wRC+ of 143, which is millions of miles better than the 92 wRC+ managed by Padres outfielders in 2014. They’ve also combined for 1.4 wins above replacement, which is currently tied for second-highest for any outfield in the majors.

So that remark Kemp made in February about the Padres having the best outfield in the game? There’s a lot of season left, but so far he and his mates are living up to that claim.

Not that it’s all about the guys in the outfield, mind you.

New third baseman Will Middlebrooks is raking to the tune of a 120 wRC+ in the early going, which is a huge improvement over the 84 wRC+ the Padres got out of the hot corner in 2014. New catcher Derek Norris, meanwhile, is actually improving on the good production the Padres got out of their catchers last year. They combined for a 109 wRC+, and he’s at 120 so far.

There’s also a bright spot in San Diego’s lineup that’s not a new addition. That would be first baseman Yonder Alonso, who’s hitting .364 with a .930 OPS. That’s increased his wRc+ from a measly 93 to a staggering 167.

Ask him, and he’ll tell you the new additions are part of the reason why.

“These guys make you get better,” Alonso told Owen Perkins of MLB.com, referring specifically to Kemp and Upton. “They kind of they take it every day and know how you have to work on a daily basis. These guys are the reasons that other guys are doing well. Not only myself, but other guys.

“Those guys are the rock of this offense, the rock of this team, and that’s the big reason why the whole team is doing well.”

In times like these, with everything going so well, your mind tends to notice the question written on the elephant in the room:

All right, what’s the catch?

Well, there is one. As you’ve probably suspected all along, this Padres offense isn’t perfect.

In fact, there are a couple of areas where it’s really no better than last year’s offense. With a walk rate that’s dropped from 7.9 to 6.1 percent, this year’s Padres hitters are drawing fewer free passes. And with a strikeout rate that’s only fallen from 21.9 percent to 21.1 percent, they aren’t putting significantly more balls in play.

Put another way, this offense is in even less of a position to waste balls in play than last year’s offense. It’s obviously been doing a good job of this so far, but it’ll be a tough act to keep up.

But doable? You bet.

Batting average on balls in play (BABIP) and slugging are two areas where this year’s Padres offense is drastically outperforming last year’s Padres offense. The club’s BABIP has risen from .277 to .326, and the club’s slugging percentage has risen from .342 to .419.

This speaks to a lot more hard contact being made, and that’s not a total mirage.

According to Mark Simon of ESPN Stats and Information, no team made hard contact less frequently than the Padres in 2014. But as of the start of play Monday, Simon had the Padres in the top five in the National League in hard-hit rate:

Will hard hits alone be enough to allow the Padres to last as the elite run-scoring team in the National League? Probably not, as even hard-hit balls are only good for so much when you’re striking out your fair share and not drawing walks.

But if nothing else, this hard-hit rate should allow the Padres to continue their dramatic improvement at finding the holes in the defense and picking up extra-base hits. That, certainly, is not a bad way to keep the runs coming.

So, by all means, don’t be afraid to tune in to watch the Padres swing the bats.

Thanks to Preller’s offseason hyper-activity, we’ve known for a while now that they were going to look the part of an elite offense on paper. And with the way they’re swinging it early on, they could look like that on the field all season long.

 

Note: Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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Top 20 Athletes in the History of the Bay Area

The Bay Area is one of the most beautiful and important sports areas in the country. Covering three major cities—Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose—the Bay Area has played home to some of the most prestigious franchises around.

By now, you know the drill. The point of this slideshow is to hone in and talk about the top 20 athletes in the history of the Bay Area.

Deciding who makes the cut comes down to statistics, championships won and overall legacy. With all of that info seeping into your cranium, let’s get right into it and start the countdown.

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3 Biggest Takeaways for the Los Angeles Dodgers Following MLB Opening Week

The Los Angeles Dodgers wrapped up Week 1 of the 2015 season with mixed results, splitting six games against fellow National League West opponents.

It was a roller-coaster ride of emotions, with several exciting moments peppered with the sobering reminders that some old wounds may still need tourniquets.

The sample size is undeniably small, but here are the three main takeaways from the first week of Dodger baseball.

 

Clayton Kershaw Hasn’t Found His Rhythm

Through his first two starts in 2015, the reigning National League MVP has looked like anything but the pitcher who took home his third Cy Young Award last season.

Kershaw got the Opening Day nod at Dodger Stadium against the San Diego Padres. He came away with a no-decision after making 99 pitches in just six innings and allowed three earned runs. It wasn’t a terrible start but certainly below the standard Kershaw has set for himself during the past several years.

Surely the offseason rust would have crumbled away by his second start?

Not quite.

The Arizona Diamondbacks torched the southpaw for 10 hits and five earned runs in less than seven innings at Chase Field. Kershaw couldn’t avoid a decision on Saturday night, suffering the loss to begin the season 0-1.

“Basically, I got blasted today,” Kershaw said, per Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. “I don’t know what else to say.”

Kershaw has already allowed eight earned runs on the young season. He didn’t surrender his eighth earned run until May 17 last year—coincidentally against the same Diamondbacks team at Chase Field during what would end up being his worst start of the season.

Kershaw will take on the Colorado Rockies in a home start this Friday.

Adrian Gonzalez Is Locked In

The Dodgers are going to need Adrian Gonzalez to hold down the middle of the lineup more than ever now that Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez are gone.

So far, the veteran first baseman hasn’t disappointed.

He’s recorded a hit in every game this season, including five home runs during the season-opening series against San Diego—the team for which he belted 161 long balls from 2006-2010.

The highlight of the week was Gonzalez’s three-homer game last Wednesday. The Padres’ starting pitcher, Andrew Cashner, served up each dose of the trifecta—the first of Gonzalez’s career.

“I was able to run into three fastballs and I thank God they were able to go over the fence,” said Gonzalez, per ESPN Los Angeles’ Mark Saxon. “It’s definitely right up there as a personal feat.”

The three home runs piggy-backed another one he had hit late in the previous game, making it four consecutive plate appearances that ended with a long ball.

All five of Gonzalez’s home runs this year have landed beyond the right field fence, illustrating a recent trend of pulling his round-trippers rather than sending them to the opposite field.

Gonzalez’s performance wasn’t solely about the power surge, though. According to Ace of MLB Stats, he also became the first player in the last decade to open a season with at least three hits in his team’s first three games.

While none of Gonzalez’s four hits over the weekend left the yard, the 32-year-old still enters Tuesday night’s game against the Seattle Mariners with a robust .556 average (15-for-27), four doubles and seven RBI.

Bullpen Concerns Remain

A winter removed from ranking 22nd in bullpen ERA, 20th in FIP and 27th in walk rate, the Dodgers bullpen is once again struggling to begin the 2015 season.

Determined to solidify a shaky situation, new president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi decided to clean house over the winter. They severed ties with Brian Wilson and made trades to bring in right-handers Joel Peralta, Juan Nicasio and Chris Hatcher.

With closer Kenley Jansen out for at least a few more weeks as he recovers from foot surgery, the Dodgers have turned to a bullpen by committee.

Hatcher recorded the save on Opening Day but retired just one of the next nine batters he faced over two appearances—ballooning his ERA to 33.75 in the process. Peralta has since assumed closing duties and has yet to allow a run.

Although Peralta has turned in serviceable work so far, the 39-year-old has just 14 career saves in 561 innings pitched. Continued reliance on him in the ninth inning may eventually cost the Dodgers, who must patiently wait for Jansen to return.

Left-hander J.P. Howell, one of the few holdovers from last season, began the season by allowing a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning last Tuesday. After pitching a scoreless inning the next day, he then took a loss in Arizona by surrendering a walk-off single in the 10th inning on Friday.

Los Angeles relievers, whose combined 3.60 ERA ranks 21st in baseball, have been directly responsible for two of the team’s three losses.

“We’ll just play it out,” said Mattingly, per NBC Los Angeles’ Michael Duarte. “You’ll have to stay tuned. It’s a fluid situation.”

 

All stats courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise noted.

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Yasiel Puig Injury: Updates on Dodgers Star’s Hamstring and Return

Los Angeles Dodgers star Yasiel Puig suffered a hamstring injury. He was ruled out of the lineup against the Seattle Mariners on April 14, and it is unclear when he will be available to return.

Continue for updates. 


Puig Out vs. Mariners

Tuesday, April 14

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reported Puig would miss the Dodgers’ game against the Mariners on Tuesday with a hamstring injury. Shaikin previously noted Puig suffered from hamstring tightness on Monday.

Even though the Dodgers have a loaded roster, their outfield isn’t as strong as it used to be. Puig is the clear standout with Matt Kemp in San Diego. Carl Crawford has had moments but isn’t what he used to be. Andre Ethier is best used as a platoon player. Joc Pederson is loaded with talent but is still a rookie who will face growing pains. 

Puig‘s ability to get on base, hit for power and create plays with his legs make him valuable to the lineup. The Dodgers may not need to score a lot of runs with their pitching staff, but if they have to do so without their dynamic playmaker for any length of time, things could turn sour in a hurry.  

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Yasiel Puig Says He’s Going to Cut Down on Bat Flips, the Nation Mourns

In news that comes as a body blow to baseball and American sports at large, Yasiel Puig says he plans to cut back drastically on the trademark bat flips fans have come to know and love him for.

The Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder told the Los Angeles Times‘ Dylan Hernandez his bat-flipping detente comes as a response to those who perceive his habit of tossing away the lumber after a long hit as disrespectful.

“I want to show American baseball that I’m not disrespecting the game,” Puig said in Spanish. “… I don’t [flip my bat] because I lack respect. I do that because of the emotions I have.”

The Cuban defector showed fans his new, flip-less side on Monday after homering in the Dodgers’ 6-5 win over the Seattle Mariners. He held the bat out for a flip through force of habit but elected to drop the wood at his side. 

It’s absurd that Puiga player in a league that deals with rampant PED usage, petty plunk battles and drunk driving issues on a consistent basis—would feel guilt over his preferred method of discarding a bat. That he’s going out of his way to conform to a vocal minority is either a testament to his own desire to please baseball snobs or additional evidence that baseball is a sport that forgot it was a sport.

There are bigger threats to the “sanctity of the game” than a young ballplayer upending his bat in a fit of joy, and, unsurprisingly, fans of Puig and the bat flip are already rallying for its return to his repertoire. 

Sarah Wexler, a Dodgers fan and bat-flip enthusiast, has gone as far as making a Change.org petition asking for Puig to “ignore the haters and batflip your heart out.”

Wexler writes that bat-flipping is the gift that keeps on giving, and the joyless purists who decry the practice make it all the more satisfying.

Batflipping is exciting. It’s entertaining. It’s harmless (well, except to those with fragile egos). For some reason, fogies who hate fun hate batflips, which in turn makes them even more fun. …

You know who disrespects the game? People who believe that “respect” for the game means players should all be stiff, emotionless and, well, entirely uninteresting. People who insist that there’s one right way to do things and, in effect, erase the many different baseball cultures throughout the world.

On the bright side, Puig says he may still flip his bat on occasion, if the moment is big enough.

“If it’s a big home run or if I’m frustrated because I couldn’t connect in my previous at-bats or if I drive in important runs for my team, I might do it,” Puig said. “You never know. I can’t say I won’t do it.”

Do it, Puig. I don’t care if it’s on a dribbler to the pitcher—you grip that bat and flip it up into the troposphere. Baseball needs it.

 

Dan is on Twitter. Don’t be held down by The Man, Yasiel.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


San Francisco Giants: Biggest Storylines at the Start of the 2015 Season

The San Francisco Giants have won three of their first four games. In traditional Giants fashion, all of the games have been close, tightly contested contests.

In recent history, the Giants have excelled in these types of games. They have a quiet confidence that is perpetuated by manager Bruce Bochy.

Arguably, the most exciting development for the Giants is that Madison Bumgarner looks strong and is poised to lead the San Francisco pitching staff. In his first start since his incredible performance to close out the Kansas City Royals in the World Series, Bumgarner looked in top form.

Bumgarner threw seven strong innings, allowing six hits and a walk and striking out three batters. He allowed only one run and earned his first victory of the season.

In addition to Bumgarner’s stellar performance, there have been several other major developments already this year.

The Giants opened the season with Hunter Pence and Travis Ishikawa on the disabled list. Unfortunately, additional injury concerns have hit the club in the first few days of the year.

Let’s take a look at the biggest developments of the 2015 season, thus far.

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Top Candidates to Enjoy Breakout Seasons for Arizona in 2015

Entering the 2015 season, the Arizona Diamondbacks are expected to be in a rebuilding mode but with a bright future.

Young players are dominating the D-backs rotation and starting lineup thus far in spring training. Chase Anderson (27), Rubby De La Rosa (26), Jeremy Hellickson (27) and Archie Bradley (22) are all confirmed as part of the rotation.

In the lineup, Chris Owings (23), Nick Ahmed (25) and Ender Inciarte (24) join Paul Goldschmidt, Mark Trumbo and A.J. Pollock as players under 30 who are entering the primes of their careers.

The abundance of youth will allow these players to grow and mature at the big league level right away. That bodes well for the future in Arizona.

Who among the young talent is poised to enjoy a breakout season in 2015? Let’s find out.

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