MLB Week in Review (May 17-23)
The Kansas City Royals have been looking to get back into the hunt in the MLB and a handful of young talent was the way they were trying to do just that. One of the main pieces to this rebuild was Mike Moustakas who looked to be a legitimate power hitter that could be the clean-up bat that all teams are looking for. That would not be the case though as Moustakas would struggle to get going when put on the major league squad. Since joining the club full time in 2012 Moustakas has yet to hit above .250 and would only hit 20 HRs once without being able to match that number again. Over three seasons of being a fulltime major leaguer Moustakas has yet to pay out in the way that the Royals were hoping. As a result the Royals would decide to send Moustakas to Triple-A Omaha after three years in the majors. It is a move that signals the end of an experiment for the Royals as they would end the attempt to make Moustakas a major league player by putting him into the lineup. It does not mean that the experiment to make Moustakas a major leaguer is over but they will look to the minor leagues to get him back on track. It is not a move that is unheard of as teams have done this time and time again, although rarely after three years in the MLB. Teams are always in a rush to bring up their most promising prospects from the minor leagues as they look to inject some youth into their lineup. With so many young stars coming into the MLB and making an impact every team is looking for that one young player that can make a difference. This can force many teams to push their young talent into the major leagues too soon. That can mean that the young talent that they bring up are not ready for the big leagues and rushing them to the major leagues could do more damage than good. Putting a player in too soon to the major leagues can completely destroy the confidence of that player and before long can make that player almost useless. That can make it a delicate balancing act as to when players can be used properly in the MLB. So when a player is sent up to the major leagues and shows signs of promise but eventually falls short teams can sometimes look to reset that player. That means sending them to Triple-A to continue their development and increase their maturity in the level below the big leagues. For some it could be a devastating move for a player that has spent some time in the MLB. There are plenty of players who straddle the two leagues as they are sent up and down regularly. That is much different than these young stars though as they spend significant time in the major leagues and just as it seems like they have accomplished their dreams and have become mainstays in the league they are pulled down to the lower level. It has happened multiple times in the MLB where a player seems to establish themselves but run into some major issues and find themselves going backwards into Triple-A. For some that can be a tough transition that they cannot recover from too quickly. Then there are the success stories where being sent down is the best thing that could ever happen to them. The best example o this would be Roy Halladay who would make his MLB debut in 1998 with the Toronto Blue Jays and became a promising young starting pitcher. Two years later Halladay would have the worst season in the history of baseball with a 10.64 ERA over 19 games. As a result Halladay would be sent not only to the minors but down to Single-A Dunedin to reset the young pitcher in 2001. Less than a year later Halladay was back in the major leagues and became the ace of the Blue Jays and winning two Cy Young Awards in 2003 and 2010. This is what the Royals are hoping happens to Moustakas with his demotion to Triple-A. The worst case could be that Moustakas never returns to the major leagues but there is a better chance that he returns better than ever to the Royals. Both he and the Royals are hoping to see that but only time will tell as Moustakas still has work to be done if he hopes to get back and make an impact in the big leagues.
Extra Innings
(Extra Thoughts on this week in baseball)
Olivo’s Strange Night
In one of the stranger stories of the week Miguel Olivo would be released by the Los Angeles Dodgers after a fight broke out in the minor leagues with a teammate that would end with Olivo biting his teammates ear earning himself a ticket out of the organization
Rangers Hurting
This season would see the Texas Rangers looking to make an impact with the signing of Prince Fielder but those expectations would take a massive hit this week when Prince Fielder would hurt his knee ending his season only adding to the loss of Jurickson Profar for 4 months
Promise from the Minors
Jon Griffin is not the amazing prospect that everyone is talking about but this week he would get plenty of headlines as the Arizona Diamondbacks prospect would hit five straight HRs over two games coming up a total of 6 times and hitting five balls out of the park while earning one walk
Key Scores:
Arizona Diamondbacks 18 – 7 Los Angeles Dodgers
– The Arizona Diamondbacks have not had their best season again this year but they would see some signs of promise when they would go off for 18 runs against the Dodgers including four home runs from four different batters
Los Angeles Dodgers 9 – 4 New York Mets
– The Dodgers and the Mets would both be in the same boat recently with financial issues but both would come out of it and begin to compete again although this time it was the Dodgers who would come out on top
Toronto Blue Jays 7 – 2 Boston Red Sox
– The Blue Jays started the season with inconsistent pitching and offence but have recently started t ocome alive on both fronts and would finish the series sweep of the Red Sox that would put them into first place
Pittsburgh Pirates 4 – 3 Washington Nationals
– The Pirates are trying to climb their way back to the fight for the division after falling to the bottom and they would get somewhat further in their goal by beating the Nationals who would fall further behind in their division race
Next Week:
Colorado Rockies vs. Atlanta Braves (Sunday May 27th; 5:10 pm ET)
– The Rockies have surprised a number of people this year as they have risen to the top of the west division while the Braves are not surprising anyone by rising to the top of the NL East again this year
New York Yankees vs. St. Louis Cardinals (Monday May 26th; 4:15 pm ET)
– The Yankees and the Cardinals will meet in one of the most historic matchups in the league as the two teams with the most history will face off with the Cards looking to stay atop the central and the Yankees trying to get back to the top of the East
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (Thursday May 29th; 10:10 pm ET)
– The Pirates are continuing to try to get back in the division hunt and will meet another team trying to get back in the fight for their win division as both teams face off looking to gains some momentum
San Francisco Giants vs. St. Louis Cardinals (Friday May 30th; 8:15 pm ET)
– The Giants and the Cards are both sitting on top of their divisions and have been two of the best teams in the past few years both winning World Series recently as they face off in what should be a good series
The Sport Addiction 