The Sizzling D-Backs

 

            The Arizona Diamondbacks are absolutely exceeding expectations this season and are doing it in unique fashion. They currently sit in 1st place in the NL West at 16 games above .500 already 76 games into the campaign. 

            This season has been a very unique one and the Diamondbacks are one of the main reasons for this. They play in a division where experts predicted them to finish fourth, some even dead last, and currently they are cruising their way through, sitting comfortably in 1st place for now. 

            The common trend this season is that teams do not need to pay big bucks to win and the Diamondbacks are embracing that trend. Currently they sit with the 21st largest payroll in the majors. Despite this and despite having the lowest payroll in their division, they sit in 1st place. 

            They play in a division dominated by high payrolls with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. The teams are filled with so much talent and had high expectations this season with no thought of the Diamondbacks interfering. 

            The D-Backs have been a fun team to watch. They are a great all-around, young team. It starts from their pitching which has been dominated by their 1-2 punch in Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. The two starters both have sub 3.00 ERA's and sit in the top 15 for lowest ERA's in baseball among qualified starting pitchers. 

            When those guys take the mound, the D-Backs are pretty confident they'll get the job done that day. Now onto the offense which has been absolutely spectacular. The overall average of the team sits at .264 which is the third highest in all of baseball. They are lead by rookie Corbin Carroll who has had a phenomenal start to the season and is the clear frontrunner for National Rookie of the Year. Some people have even spoke about him in MVP discussions, but we won't go that far just yet. 

            I think the real turning point for the D-Backs was during the offseason when they made a huge trade with the Toronto Blue Jays. In the trade they acquired Lourdes Gurriel and Gabriel Moreno for Daulton Varsho. The Blue Jays valued Varsho highly and this gave the D-Backs some greats options to choose from and they made the right decision. Gurriel has arguably given the D-Backs the best offensive production behind Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno has been great as well. 

            No one viewed the D-Backs any different or assumed they would be where they are right now after this trade, but it definitely showed what direction the organization was trying to lead this team into. In a jam-packed National League this season, the D-Backs sit currently with the second-best record just a couple games behind the Atlanta Braves for 1st. 

            The D-Backs will certainly be buyers at the trade deadline and I expect them to go after some more pitching assets. The offense has been unbelievable and no changes are needed there, but Gallen and Kelly can't pitch everyday, so some relief is definitely needed there for the snakes. 

            In a division that recently has always been dominated by the Dodgers and also consists of the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants, the Arizona Diamondbacks are proving all the doubters wrong during this campaign. This is a fun and very young ball club and once they add some more pitching, they'll be in great shape. 

Blockbuster at Midnight

 

            After the 3-way deal failed to go through the first time, the revamped deal goes through at midnight, with the major headline of the deal being that Kristaps Porzingis is now a Boston Celtic. 

            The deal involved three teams: the Celtics, Grizzlies, and Wizards. Originally, the teams were supposed to be the Celtics, Wizards, and Clippers, but that trade fell through because of injury concerns about the players involved in the deal. 

            The full trade consisted of Porzingis and a couple first-rounders going to Boston, Marcus Smart to the Grizzlies, and Tyus Jones, Danillo Gallinari, and Mike Muscala going to Washington. Certainly a lot of names were involved and all teams landed guys that are going to make a big difference on their new teams. 

            The Celtics obviously needed a change after making the finals last year and losing, then this year losing in the Eastern Conference Finals. They just have kept coming up short. They revamp their team by basically trading away their heart and soul, Marcus Smart, for an all-star in Porzingis totally upgrading this team. 

            The starting lineup for the C's is going to be scary with their new addition, and unlike the Suns who could not afford depth, the Celtics are going to have great depth too. When you think about guys who were originally in the starting lineup like Derrick White and Al Horford now going to the bench as key depth pieces, the Celtics are in really good shape and setup to once again make it out of the East. 

            The bad side of the deal was losing Marcus Smart. Smart has been with Boston his whole career and is one of the best defensive and most emotional players in the game today. Sending him to Memphis is risky in the fact that their defensive game is taking a huge toll, and he is pairing up with fellow defensive player of the year in Jaren Jackson Jr. The Grizzlies could end up being one of the best defensive teams in the NBA with this acquisition.

            As for the Wizards, we knew after they traded away Bradley Beal that they were entering a full rebuild mode. In under a week, they have traded away their two top players for lots of assets for the future of their franchise. Also other top player, Kyle Kuzma, declined his option making him a free agent and no longer a Wizard. We will be seeing a whole new look Wizards team this next year as they look to right the ship in their upcoming rebuild. 

            My rankings of who won the trade are in this order: number 1 is the Celtics, at 2 is the Wizards, and in last is the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies giving up Tyus Jones and draft picks to Boston for essentially Marcus Smart was a bit of an overpay for a player that is good, but not going to turn your franchise around in a way that Porzingis has the ability to. 

            The Wizards are diving headfirst into their rebuild and are fully committed to doing whatever it takes to renovate and revamp the course of this roster. Ever since really John Wall left this team and the injury plague struck them, the Wizards have not been very competitive and knew it was time for a change and that time is now. 

            As for the Celtics, they should be and are now the title favorites in the NBA. Porzingis is not a superstar, but he is exactly what the Celtics need to go all the way for banner number 18. I'm looking forward to the draft tonight and potentially some more blockbusters on the way!

How Good is Luis Arraez?

 

            Luis Arraez is in the midst of his first season with the Miami Marlins and he has been making the most out of playing with a young and inexperienced team. Currently the Marlins sit at 10 games above .500, 74 games into the season, but how much does Arraez have to do with that? 

            The answer is plain and simple. Arraez has everything to do with their success. The Marlins have been looking for an offensive star ever since they traded away Giancarlo Stanton back in 2018. In the last 5 seasons for the Marlins, their offensive numbers have been miserable and rank towards the bottom of the league. 

            Arraez totally flipped those numbers around with his ability to put the ball in play almost every single at bat. He was acquired in the offseason from a trade from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for pitcher Pablo Lopez. Lopez was high up on the Marlins rotation and it was hard letting him go, but the trade was a win for both teams.

            The Twins desperately needed good pitching and got that in Lopez, and the Marlins needed a consistent bat and are getting that and more out of Arraez. People around the league will tell you that the deal was a win for both teams, but Arraez has had so much more to do with the turnaround of the Marlins than Lopez could have ever had. 

            Just to show how good Arraez has been lets look at a simple stat, batting average. Batting average is based out of 1.000 and Arraez currently leads the league with a .398 batting average. That means that every 10 at-bats Arraez has, he's going to get a hit in at least 4 of them. There are only a select few players around the league that bat over .300 and aren't close to .400 in the slightest. 

            The average batting average around the league is in the mid .200's. So that means for the average player, in every 10 at-bats they get at least 2 hits, while Arraez is doubling that with 4. It's simple, the man is on a different level with how productive he has been from the left side of the plate. 

            Also, it's not like he's trying to go out of his way to get on base and get hits. He simply has the goal of lining a base hit over the head of the shortstop and goes up to the box every time with that intention. Not many players around the league have this intention when stepping into the box, but maybe they should pick this up from the hottest hitter in the league. 

            Arraez is on pace to win the batting title in the NL, leading the other leaders in batting average by wide margin. He also won the batting title last season in the AL for the Twins. A select few players have changed leagues and won batting titles in both of them, but Arraez is well on pace to accomplish this feat.

            It's fun seeing what Luis Arraez can do and how drastically he has changed the outlook of this Marlins team. You have to go back to two logo changes ago when the Marlins had a record this good and were on pace to have success. They've only made the playoffs three times in their brief history as a franchise and Luis Arraez is making a great case to make it a fourth time for this Marlins ball club. 

The Latest Big Red Machine

 

            The Cincinnati Reds have came out of nowhere this season and are currently sitting atop the NL Central division at 38-35. This young Reds team is on a 9 game-winning streak and is currently the hottest team in all the land. 

            The Reds have taken the MLB by storm and very unexpectedly at the same time. Not only are they on fire right now, but they are also the youngest team in the National League, headlined by some of their top prospects who are leading the way for them right now. 

            In a division this season with no clear number one team, the Reds have taken advantage and are trying to assert themselves as that team. The NL Central has totally flipped upside down from this season to last season with the Cardinals who were first last year, dead last this year, and the Reds who were dead last last year, first this year. 

            We live in a totally different world of baseball than we did a couple of years ago. In this world, we are seeing more and more teams not having to pay as much money to compete with the top dogs. The Reds are one of those teams that are embracing this new style of baseball. 

            They currently sit with the 25th largest payroll in baseball and have a better record than most of the teams ahead of them in payroll. For the past couple of years, they have been struggling mightily and this year they went with the style of letting the kids play and it has paid off to its fullest extent so far. 

            The Reds top prospect and one of the top prospects in baseball, Elly De La Cruz, has provided the exact boost that this team has needed. He basically came up from the minor leagues and said I'm running the show, I'm the best player here (which he did kind of say), and so far has lived up to his word, putting the Reds in a fantastic position that they have not been accustomed to in recent years. 

            At this pace, the Reds will certainly be buyers at the trade deadline and what they most definitely need is better pitching. Statistically, the Reds pitching as a whole is in the bottom five of baseball in team ERA sitting in the high 4's. In the postseason, especially with a young team like the Reds, pitching is going to carry you, so you need ample arms in the rotation that are going to win you ball games. 

            One bright spot from their pitching staff has been their closer, Alexis Diaz. Diaz is the brother of Edwin Diaz, who was the best reliever in all of baseball a season ago. It seems as if Alexis has inhabited what his brother Edwin does as he has arguably be been the best closer in baseball this season. Having a great bullpen is one thing, but when you have a guy that you can always put on the mound in a tight situation late in a game, that is a huge bonus for this Reds team. 

            My favorite thing about the Reds actually just happened last night with the return of Joey Votto. Votto, in my eyes, should be the captain of this team. He's one of the few veterans on this team at 39 years old and has played with the Reds ever since he entered the league in 2007. He is what you would call Mr. Red. 

            Votto had missed the first 72 games of the season recovering from shoulder surgery and at his age, it is definitely a tough thing to come back from. But he did, and in his second at bat of the season, he launched a home run into the right field seats. The guy who has been through a ton of hardships throughout his career with the Reds comes back to the team when they are playing their best and immediately contributes. Joey Votto is the definition of dedication to this Cincinnati Reds ball club. 

            The Reds are the hottest team in baseball right now and have a chance to extend their winning streak tonight against the Rockies to 10 straight games. They are bringing a new definition of fun to the sport and I hope that this new Big Red Machine can keep it up in Cincinnati. 

Bradley Beal Traded to the Suns

 

            Although trades are not officially finalized until free agency opens up in the NBA, three-time all-star Bradley Beal has been traded to the Phoenix Suns from the Washington Wizards in an absolute blockbuster and shocking trade across the association.

            The full trade sent veteran point guard Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, some second round picks, and other pick swaps to Washington in exchange for Bradley Beal, Isiah Todd, and Jordan Goodwin. The acquisition of Beal by the Wizards completes the latest big 3 for the Phoenix Suns. Chris Paul will likely not wear the Washington uniform this upcoming season as they are looking to deal him elsewhere with their rebuild currently just starting it seems like. 

            Beal's resume, to me, is a little underwhelming when looking in terms of his contract and the value the Suns give him. He's only made one all-NBA team and three all-star teams in his 11 year career. Sure, he's a great scorer and everything, but his stats have not done much to contribute to success since he's entered the league with the Washington Wizards.

            Looking at it from Phoenix's point of view, there is some risk but heavy reward that comes along with the trade. First, Phoenix now has no depth on their team. The only guaranteed contracts they have on their team as of now can barely make up the starting lineup and maybe 1 or 2 pieces on their bench.

            Secondly, can Bradley Beal finally stay healthy. In his 11 years in the league, he's only played 2 full seasons and the last one was dating back five seasons ago. Pair that along with Kevin Durant who is historically known for not staying healthy, that could be a recipe for failure like we saw in Brooklyn with Durant's health along with Kyrie Irving. 

            Thirdly, if the Suns don't win the championship this year with their newest big 3, and not to mention DeAndre Ayton as well, then they will be looked at as a failure and might have to restructure the team once again. With this trade, I believe the Suns have the most pressure on their backs throughout the association to go and finally win a championship. 

            Now let's look at the positives. Certainly when you acquire a player that is a certified scorer at all three levels and averages over 20 point per game in his career, you are getting a very good player. With Beal's averages along with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant's points per game averages, they combine to score over 80 points per game. 

            Each one of those guys is a threat to score at any level and when the game is on the line, opposing defenses are going to have a tough time figuring out who to cover. In today's NBA, the most important thing to have on your team is good shooting and a lot of it. With this deal, the Suns add one of the best shooters in the NBA to a team with some of the best flamethrowers in the NBA as well. 

            One question that has been highly disputed is, are the Suns done making trades? I say that if they aren't done then DeAndre Ayton will certainly be on the move sometime soon. Ayton was very close to moving on from the Suns to the Pacers last offseason until the Suns matched what the Pacers were offering Ayton and he was forced to re-sign with the Phoenix. 

            Trading away DeAndre Ayton could loom to have big upside for the Suns. Ayton is a great player and one of the league's top centers, but by trading him it opens up more space on the team for additional depth pieces without his large contract. The Suns will have to make a tough decision to either stick with their guy or move on from him to pursue additional depth to their roster. 

            This trade certainly has its negatives and positives. Just because the Suns landed Beal does not make them locked up for the NBA championship in the upcoming season. It will be interesting to see if Beal ends up being the missing piece to this Suns team and helps them achieve success this upcoming year in the valley. 

            

Only Baseball Until September

 

            Since the NBA and NHL season has concluded, the MLB is the only major sport currently going on for a couple of months. This is a perfect opportunity for those who view baseball as boring to start to pay attention to the MLB more and start to see why it isn't so boring after all. 

            For sports fans that are not really into baseball as much, they will have to wait until early September for the next big sports to start up again. The NFL and College Football will begin then and then shortly after the NHL and NBA will start again. But for now, baseball is on center stage for some time. 

            We are about 70 games through the MLB regular season with still around 90 games remaining for each team. As a big fan of baseball, the season has been a blast so far. From the new rule changes to the drama going on between teams that have well overachieved, it has been a great season so far.

            It's always fun seeing teams that in past years have underperformed in the past, perform well this year. Seeing teams like the Arizona Diamondbacks, Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles, and Miami Marlins play well after multiple years of misery before this season has been great to see. 

            This year the season has been very unique compared to other seasons. Baseball is the one sport without a salary cap. Sometimes this can be beneficial for the sports, and other times no so beneficial. Usually we see the teams that pay the most succeed the most, but that is not the case this year. On the other hand, the Tampa Bay Rays, who are in the bottom five payrolls in the league, are the best team in the league by far through their first 70 games. 

            Teams with the biggest payrolls are commonly found in the largest markets and have the most pressure on them to succeed. These teams include the New York Mets, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, and more. 2 out of those 3 teams are currently not even in playoff contention showing that payrolls have meant little to nothing this season. 

            One of my favorite things about the game so far this season has been the new rule changes. This includes the new pitch clock and batter clock, no more shift, and bigger bases. The new clocks have made the game so much faster and more intense as well. In the past we've seen long at bats last minutes, while this season they rarely last over a minute. 

             The shift has made the game more like it used to be when analytics and statistics wasn't so important to the game. Instead of having three players on one side of the second base bag, on both sides of  the bag there must be two of them. It takes out a lot of strategy and we have seen batting averages from players who used to be shifted on rise substantially. 

              Baseball is starting to become more global and expand to countries that never really picked up the sport before. For instance, the Cubs and the Cardinals are playing in London this year, in a country that's main sport and secondary sports are not baseball. The World Baseball Classic also did a great job in helping to expand the game involving many countries from all different parts of the world as well. 

            For the next couple of months, it's only baseball so give it a shot and pay attention to it. The people that say the game is boring have never actually sat down and truly appreciated what the game is all about, so don't listen to them and make your own judgements about America's pastime. 

            

                      

The Most Disappointing of Them All

 

            There have been plenty of underperforming teams in the MLB this year, but none of them top the disappointment levels that this team has currently. That team is the St. Louis Cardinals. 

            The Cardinals are in a very bad spot right now and they just can't seem to figure it out. Currently they sit at 27-42, not only in last place in the NL Central, but last place in the National League as well. It's confusing how a team who won its division last year by a good margin, and only got better in the offseason, fell off this much. 

            From a personal standpoint, I really like the players that the Cardinals currently have. Veterans that have been around the league for a long time in Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt leading the way, surrounded by younger players such as Tommy Edman, Lars Nootbar, and more supporting as well. 

            Somehow, even with all of this talent, the Cardinals team batting average is right smack in the middle of Major League Baseball. A team with this much talent offensively should not be an average offensive team almost 70 games into the season. 

            Their rotation isn't too shabby either on paper, but has drastically underperformed this season. They currently have the second-worst team ERA in the majors, but it's not like they have an awful rotation. Jack Flaherty leading the rotation surrounded by veterans such as Miles Mikolas and Adam Wainwright, it's tough to accept that this rotation isn't what it seems to be. 

            The Cardinals aren't getting any help from the teams in their division better because every team around them has gotten better. A team that was in dead last in the division last year in the Pirates is now in first place showing their drastic improvement. Other teams such as the Reds and Cubs have only gotten younger and better as well. No one is doing any favors for the Cardinals in their division. 

            Sure, there are plenty of teams in the MLB that have been disappointing, just to name a few teams: the San Diego Padres, New York Mets, and Chicago White Sox. With the large payrolls that both the Mets and Padres have, they have been utterly disappointing as well, but they are not dead last in their division, sitting at 15 games under .500 like the Cardinals. 

            Many fans don't view the Cardinals as the most disappointing because of the star power that both the Padres and the Mets possess. But what fans don't consider is the comparison in divisions the three teams play in. Right now, 4 of the 5 teams in both the NL West and the NL East are capable of making the postseason, while in the NL Central there's only about 2 or 3. 

            Fortunately for the Cardinals, the season is doesn't end after 70 games, it does after 162 of them. But, the trade deadline is slowly approaching and if the Cardinals don't get their act together, they might become sellers at the deadline. Their pitching staff is too talented to have the second-worst team ERA in baseball. Matter of fact, this team in total is too good to be where they are at right now. 

The A's Need to be Sold

 

            For the past 55 years, since 1968, the Athletics have called Oakland home, but now in 2023 their home is in jeopardy because of their owner Mark Fisher not taking the proper measures to stay in Oakland and is trying to relocate his team to Las Vegas. 

            In recent history, the city of Oakland has seen two of its three major sports teams move away from the city. First, it was the Golden State Warriors moving from Oakland to San Francisco, then the Raiders moving from Oakland to Las Vegas. The only team currently left in Oakland is the Athletics and this may not even be the case in a couple of years. 

            There a plenty of fan bases throughout America in each of its professional sports that leave it all out on the table for their teams and the A's fanbase is one of them. They showed their passion last night when the fans showed up to the game in a "reverse boycott" to show that they are not the problem, the problem is ownership. The city of Oakland has too good of a fan base to lose all three of its teams in the span of a decade when they have been cheering them on for many decades before. 

            The simple answer is fans haven't been showing up to games because the team is horrible. After last night, the A's are now on a seven-game winning streak, but they are still the second-worst team in the league sitting at 19-50, well out of wild card contention. 

            For starters, the A's have the lowest payroll in baseball by a wide margin. Some teams have players that are making more money that the entire 26-man roster of the Athletics is making in a year. This is because of their owner not wanting to spend money on his team to make it better and we have seen this for a long time. 

            The movie, Moneyball, was based off of the Athletics motto of not spending money, while still having success competing with the larger payrolls. Although this movie is one of the best sports movies of all time, the A's have been unsuccessful trying to copy it in the past couple of years. 

            The A's have developed lots of great talent in recent years, but have had to trade it all away because of their money constraints. They simply do not have the money to re-sign the guys that helped the team succeed and instead let them go in exchange for minor leaguers who don't cost anything currently. 

            If they were willing to spend this type of money, on the other hand, then they would've retained their star players and actually have a chance at competing instead of being the doormat in the American League. They need an owner that wants to spend money, not one that is going to retain his money and prove each and every year that the team is not capable of competing at a major league level. 

            Sure there are some teams that have low payrolls and succeed like the Tampa Bay Rays, but where the A's are standing with their payroll, it just isn't a fair competition. Baseball is the only American professional sport where there is no salary cap and teams are able to spend as much as they want in shaping a team.

            It has been displayed for a long time and history tells us that you need to spend money to have success in the big leagues. It is impossible to think that the A's could be able to compete with teams such as the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, and Padres who have payrolls that are more than five times larger than theirs. It's like they are playing a totally different sport. Until the team is sold or until Mark Fisher decides to spend some money on the A's, they will continue to be the laughing stock and doormat of baseball.

            When people think of baseball history, they think of the Yankees with Murderers' Row, or the Brooklyn Dodgers, or the curse of the Great Bambino with the Red Sox, but what they don't think about is the history of the Oakland Athletics because of how irrelevant the team has been made in recent history. 

            The A's have had large success in their history, with nine World Series titles, hall of famers such as Ricky Henderson, Reggie Jackson, and more. This history all derives from Oakland and being able to play in that city. Whether building a new ballpark is an option in Oakland or staying put at the Coliseum, the A's need to stay in Oakland, not just for their fans, but for baseball as well. 

            

            

            

The Nuggets are the Champs!

 

            For the first time in their 47 year history, the Denver Nuggets are NBA champions! The Nuggets defeat the Miami Heat in a gentlemen's sweep in five games. 

            This Nuggets team was very good and was headed by a player that many have claimed to be already one of the greatest to play the game in Nikola Jokic. Jokic averaged video game numbers and had the best points-rebounds-assists average combined out of any player to ever participate in the NBA playoffs. 

            I believe the real motivation behind Jokic's success in these playoffs was when he was not awarded the MVP for this season, and instead Joel Embiid was given the award. He took it about as personally as you can get. In many eyes, including mine, he should've been the back to back to back MVP of the league. 

            There are few players throughout the game that other teams just cannot find an answer for and Jokic is definitely one of them. You know he's great when the older generation is comparing him to Wilt, the middle generation is comparing him to Jordan, and the younger generation is comparing him to Lebron. Nikola Jokic is special and deserves to be spoken about with the greats.

            Like all great teams, you need a good supporting cast and the Nuggets had a great one. The supporting cast was headlined by the second half of the dynamic duo of the Nuggets in Jamal Murray. No doubt Jokic had one of the best postseasons of all time, but don't take any of the accomplishments away from his teammate Jamal Murray.

            Murray was clutch in all areas, getting a basket whenever needed, a great playmaker, and solid defender. The only reason why Jamal Murray isn't getting more credit for how successful the Nuggets were this postseason is that his teammate is Nikola Jokic. The two of them were the reason why the Nuggets only lost four times in the past two months. 

            Aside from the dynamic duo, the role players of the Nuggets also played a very key role. The most impactful players aside from Murray and Jokic in this series were Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown. Gordon has asserted his role with the Nuggets for the next couple of years with the contract that he is currently on, but Bruce Brown on the other hand earned himself a hug bag this upcoming offseason. 

            His contributions fueled the Nuggets late in the last couple of games and Gordon's defense on Jimmy Butler and the other Heat shooters was impeccable. The Nuggets played with a short rotation only getting consistent minutes from about 7-8 guys, but each and everyone left their distinct impact on the floor throughout the series giving the Nuggets their first ever championship.

            The city of Denver is thriving and because of its sports, it is emerging as a new, major city and destination in America. The Avalanche headed by their superstar Nathan McKinnon took home the Stanley Cup just a year ago and now Nikola Jokic has brought home the Larry O'Brien trophy to this wonderful, up and coming city. 

            Although the 2022-2023 season just ended, the Nuggets are already the favorites to take home the title in the 2023-2024 season. It's very difficult to repeat as #1 in back to back years, but the Nuggets showed they definitely have what it takes. I'm excited to see how they adapt to the rest of the league's changes this upcoming season. It's bittersweet to see another great season to go down in the history books, but there were definitely many great moments to reflect upon going into the future. 

            The offseason is right around the corner and in just over a week the NBA draft will commence. Teams will be altered drastically and the league will be with the addition of many young stars such as Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson. It is a very exciting time for the NBA even though there's no games going on. 

The Marlins are Rolling

 

            The Marlins currently sit at a 33-28 record on a five-game winning streak, exceeding almost everyone's expectations on where they would stand so far this season. Although the Marlins aren't my favorite team, they sure have been fun to watch.

            For the past couple of years, the Marlins have had focused a lot more on their pitching than their hitting and it hurt them for awhile until this year. The Marlins made a crucial move in the offseason that seemed like a win-win for both teams as they acquired Luis Arraez for Pablo Lopez.

            Arraez would give the Marlins more offense while sacrificing a pitcher that they already had a surplus of in their congested rotation. Has Arraez provided the offense, you ask? Well why don't you take a look at his batting average and tell me if .401 is good.

            Arraez has by far been the Marlins best player throughout the first 61 games. It seems like every time he steps up to the plate, he is going to get on base somehow and that is usually going to be a base hit. After winning the batting title in the AL last season, he looks like he is going to cruise to win the NL batting title this year as well. He was the exact offense the Marlins were looking for and got. 

            The Marlins also have gotten good contributions from other parts of their offense in Jorge Soler. Bryan De La Cruz, and more. Although one of their faces of the franchise in Jazz Chisholm has been on the IL, the Marlins have not missed his presence much. They also have a ton of depth and signed some key veterans this offseason that were sneaky good moves. 

            Those vets being guys like Yuli Gurriel who has been one of the best hitters in the AL in recent history after his time with the Houston Astros and has carried this over to Miami. It's not often you see a guy still raking like he is at 38 years young.

            The area that the Marlins have addressed much more than others in previous years has been their pitching. Their pitching staff is more on the underrated side in all of baseball, featuring former CY Young winner Sandy Alcantara. Alcantara has not been as sharp as he was last season when he had a sub 2.30 ERA and went the distance in almost every start, but the Marlins have not been as dependent on him this year. 

            Although the Marlins did essentially give up their #2 starting pitcher in Pablo Lopez, that deal is right now looking like a total win for the fish with the way Luis Arraez has been raking. They still have other guys such as Jesus Luzardo who they acquired just a short time ago from the A's. Also, one of their best prospects in Eury Perez was just called up and has not disappointed thus far. 

            With all of the talent the Marlins have in the majors right now, they also have a stacked farm system to go along with it. This gives the team a ton of depth that they can rely on within the next couple of years.

            The biggest weakness the Marlins currently have right now is their division. Right now, the NL East is arguably one of the best, if not the best, division in baseball. To show how good it is, the defending NL champion from a season ago, the Phillies, are in 4th place. Right now the division has four potential playoff teams that includes the Marlins.

            In the past and so far this season, the Marlins have struggled succeeding winning games against teams in their own division. Excluding their games against the Nationals this year, against the other three teams in the NL East, the Marlins are 5-12. If the Marlins want to have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs, they need to first handle their business within their own division. 

            The Marlins currently find themselves within the thick of an NL Wild Card race in the second wild card spot between the Dodgers and the Pirates. They have been exceeding expectations left and right so far this season and if they continue to keep it up they should be back in the playoffs and could be a scary team to play when fully healthy. 

The Series Shifts to Miami

 

            The first two games in Denver played up to their hype as the series is now split at one game apiece heading back to the 305. The Heat now have home-court advantage over Denver and no altitude to deal with either.

            The Nuggets took game one in dominating fashion although the Heat made a little run at the end of the game. The Heat had absolutely no idea what they were put up against as almost every Nugget had a superb game, but used this game to their advantage to capitalize in game 2. 

            Although it wasn't pretty at times, the Heat managed to bounce back in game 2 with a three point victory. From the tip it looked like the Heat figured out the problem, until Denver went on a 40-14 run. They were in control up until the final quarter of things when Miami did not look back. 

            This quarter was the defining quarter of their team throughout the postseason displaying the tremendous amount of depth they have and what they bring to the table. It didn't take a spectacular game from their star Jimmy Butler to put them over the top, rather Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, and other non-household names put on the show. 

            They also figured out how vulnerable the Nuggets are. The Heat did a great job in limiting Jamal Murray and this was the total key to their success. When Jokic and Murray combine to both have great games, they don't lose very often. But when it's one guy over the other and carrying the workload, it is a totally different story. 

            Jokic did drop 41 points and had a double-double but the Heat had no problems with his point total as long as they took his passing game away and limited his psychic, Jamal Murray to a subpar game. It didn't matter about the altitude, what mattered was the players in front of them that they needed to slow down in order to get back in the series. 

            The Heat have certainly made the back to back MVP mad and we will see tomorrow night what he will do about this series being evened up. The Nuggets are more than capable to steal a game in Miami and if they do they will be in the driver's seat in this series I believe. The Heat have gained the upper-hand, but can the Nuggets get it back tomorrow night down in the 305?

The NBA Finals are Set

 

            The NBA Finals are finally here as for the first time since 1999 it will feature a #1 seed taking on a #8 seed. This year, the #1 seed is the Denver Nuggets taking on the #8 seed the Miami Heat.

            Miami made it here after narrowly escaping the first ever 3-0 comeback in NBA history and taking game 7 in Boston over the Celtics. The Heat are able to catch their breaths but not for long as they only have two days to rest in between the conference finals and the finals. 

            Unlike the Heat, the Nuggets have had ample rest after easily taking care of the Los Angeles Lakers in a four game sweep. The question is though does the rest negatively or positively affect the Nuggets for this series? 

            The Heat with their lower seed ranking have been the underdog every single series so far this postseason, while the Nuggets being the highest seed have been favored every single series during this postseason. With that being said, things will not change during the finals as the Nuggets are once again favored and the Heat are the underdogs coming in.

            The headlines are jam-packed coming into this final round of the playoffs featuring former MVP, Nikola Jokic, and superstar Jimmy Butler. Both are anticipating their first ever NBA championship after many years spent in the league.

            Jokic was crowned the MVP in back to back seasons and Jimmy Butler has taken his game to a different level this postseason, but who deserves it more? Obviously, there are no right answers, but winning back to back MVPs with nothing to show for certainly makes a convincing argument that this is Jokic's trophy to obtain.

            As I said before, the Heat have always been the underdogs this postseason, but they have always overcame this title. The Heat have been doubted every single game this postseason even after they blew a 3-0 lead and had their backs against the wall, one game away from the finals. 

            The dynamic duos of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo up against Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray will be on full display during this series. These teams are very similarly built in some ways with the depth they both possess, the great shooting, and great coaching as well. 

            Miami make its return to the finals for the first time since 2020 as they certainly have ample postseason experience. But so do the Denver Nuggets even though they have never won a title or made it to the finals as a matter of fact. I believe that will end up changing this year although you can never count out this Heat team. 

            I am definitely anticipating a great series between these two teams and whether Jimmy Butler gets his first ring or Nikola Jokic does it will certainly be a great story in the end. The Nuggets have looked unstoppable this postseason and I believe they will carry that over into the finals and defeat the Heat for their first ever NBA championship title.