Updating MLB's Hottest 2016 Questions as Opening Day Approaches
When the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates kick off the 2016 MLB season on Sunday, we will have endured 153 days without meaningful baseball.
That's five months and change of frigid weather, feverish hot-stove tracking and the long, sometimes tedious exhibition slate.
Now, at last, the games count. The stats matter. The grass is cut, the lines are chalked. You're ready. They're ready.
First, though, let's check in with another installment of "hottest questions."
This time, we'll look back at the spring that was and the season that's about to be and bring you takes and updates on the New York Yankees bullpen, the Los Angeles Dodgers' injury woes, the Chicago Cubs and their sky-high expectations, baseball's new collective bargaining agreement and Big Papi's ride into the Boston sunset.
Grab some lumber, limber up your commenting muscles and dig in when ready.
Is the Yankees' Super Pen Already Imploding?
1 of 5
First, spring brought word that All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman—the Yankees' splashiest offseason addition—would be suspended 30 regular-season games under MLB's new domestic violence policy.
Now, left-hander Andrew Miller—who will assume ninth-inning duties in Chapman's absence—is dealing with a fractured wrist on his non-pitching arm.
Dellin Betances, the other member of New York's imposing bullpen troika, better watch his back.
The good news for the Yanks is that Miller plans to play through his injury, which he suffered when he was struck by a comebacker Wednesday, per Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media.
"It's my right hand," Miller said, per Kuty. "I don't really need it."
New York certainly needs Miller, who posted a 2.04 ERA last season with 36 saves, particularly with Chapman out for a month-plus.
The Yankees are already dealing with question marks in the rotation and a creaky cast of veteran hitters. The relief corps was supposed to be the club's unmitigated strength.
It still could be if Miller doesn't face any setbacks and especially when Chapman returns with his otherworldly fastball.
So far, however, this super-bullpen experiment is off to a shaky start.
Will Injuries Doom the Dodgers?
2 of 5
The Dodgers entered the Cactus League with enviable depth across the roster. They left with a triage unit's worth of injuries.
Left-hander Brett Anderson was lost for three to five months after undergoing back surgery. Hyun-Jin Ryu, another key rotation cog, is still recovering from an offseason shoulder procedure.
Outfielder Andre Ethier went down with a fractured right tibia. Catcher Yasmani Grandal is battling a forearm strain. Second baseman Howie Kendrick has a bum calf. Touted rookie shortstop Corey Seager is shaking off the effects of a knee sprain.
Taken in isolation, none of those ailments is catastrophic. But taken together, they put Los Angeles in a vulnerable position entering the season, particularly with the even-year San Francisco Giants and reloaded Arizona Diamondbacks ready to take control in the National League West.
Other clubs are already circling, USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported, offering veteran pieces for the Dodgers' cache of shiny prospects.
That option isn't off the table, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Nightengale, but it has to be the right fit for the right price.
"There's some ambulance chasing going on," Friedman said. "But our approach in general, and specifically as it relates to trades, is to keep an open mind. We don't have any hard and fast rules about anything. We just have to figure out what makes the most sense."
The good news for Dodgers fans is that the club has the financial flexibility and trade chips to plug holes in-season if needed.
But, short of Clayton Kershaw being carried off by a rogue pterodactyl, this spring couldn't have gone much worse from a health perspective.
Does the Cubs' Spring Record Mean Anything?
3 of 5
Spring training records don't matter. You know this. We know this. Your great-aunt who's never watched a baseball game knows this.
Still, when you trail as much hype as the Chicago Cubs, everything gets shoved under the microscope.
So we're forced to note that the Cubbies are just 11-17 in the exhibition season entering play Friday. Should the Wrigley Field faithful be even mildly concerned?
The answer is no for two reasons.
First, to repeat with emphasis, spring training records don't matter. Yes, last year the Kansas City Royals went 20-10 in spring and bathed in champagne and confetti in November.
Generally, though, there's zero correlation between exhibition win-loss totals and regular-season performance. Just ask the Oakland A's, who "won" last year's Cactus League with a 22-11 mark before limping to a last-place finish in the American League West.
Most importantly, Chicago has kept its young core healthy this spring. Nothing has blown up; no wheels have come off.
Cubs fans are a cynical bunch, by and large. A century-plus of billy goats and Steve Bartmans will do that to you. But everyone on the North Side would do well to follow the example of skipper Joe Maddon.
"Look, the record isn't good," Maddon said, per Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago. "I couldn't care less."
Will Baseball's Strike-Free Streak Continue?
4 of 5
In the summer of 1994, baseball stopped in its tracks. MLB canceled the Fall Classic. It was the strike heard 'round the world.
Since then, the game has enjoyed nearly a quarter-century of labor stability. Other troubles—hello, steroid era—have emerged, but it's been a long time since we had to worry about ballplayers walking off the job.
With the collective bargaining agreement set to expire Dec. 1, is there any risk of another strike?
Well, sure. Negotiations can always blow up, and a range of contentious questions—revenue sharing, the designated hitter, the qualifying-offer system—figure to be on the table.
Talks between the players' union and MLB have already kicked off, with an initial sitdown taking place March 11 in Florida. Houston Astros player representative Jason Castro called the meeting "encouraging," per USA Today's Gabe Lacques.
In January, Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan asked Commissioner Rob Manfred about the possibility of a labor stoppage, and Manfred replied, "I'm going to do everything humanly possible to make sure that doesn’t happen."
Again, there's a distance between words and actions. But with the money that's at stake—and the damage another strike could do to everyone's bottom line—an amicable resolution with some intriguing rule tweaks seems like the safest bet.
Will David Ortiz Go out on a High Note?
5 of 5
It won't make the cut in any career-highlight montages, but it was still pretty cool when David Ortiz launched a home run in his final Grapefruit League at-bat Thursday.
The dinger, as Boston.com's PJ Wright noted, came at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Florida, where Ortiz played his first-ever spring training game two decades ago.
There's a certain poetry to that, particularly if you believe in omens. The question now: Will Ortiz and the Red Sox go out with a bang or a whimper?
Last season, Boston finished in last place in the AL East while Big Papi enjoyed a banner year, clubbing 37 dingers with 108 RBI and a .913 OPS.
In response, the Red Sox retooled, adding ace David Price and closer Craig Kimbrel. Now, they enter 2016 as the nominal favorites in a flawed, noisy AL East.
Can Ortiz, who turned 40 in November, keep Father Time at bay for one more go-round and return Boston to October glory, or at least relevance?
The projection systems are bullish, with ZiPS foretelling 30 homers and a .264/.350/.523 slash line, per FanGraphs.
Ortiz is, simply, a rare talent, as FanGraphs' Paul Swydan outlined:
"What Ortiz is doing is quietly remarkable. Last season, he and Alex Rodriguez became just the sixth and seventh players in big league history to hit 30 or more homers in their age-39 season. Only Barry Bonds (2004) and Hank Aaron (1973) hit more homers in their age-39 seasons than did Ortiz last year. Ortiz's batting eye has never waned, and he isn't especially vulnerable to any one pitch. In fact, last year he tallied the best performance of his career against changeups, and on a rate basis that performance was fifth-best in the majors among qualified hitters. David Ortiz is 40 now, and it seems like he shouldn't be hitting this well anymore, but he is, so don't doubt it for a second.
"
You can quibble with the Red Sox, who have questions at the back of the rotation, for example, and recently benched $95 million man Pablo Sandoval in favor of Travis Shaw.
But sleep on Ortiz—provided he stays healthy—at your peril.
All statistics current as of March 31 and courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and MLB.com unless otherwise noted.
