So Close But So Far

     C'mon guys, y'all were so close!

    Yesterday the Tigers and Pirates played in a doubleheader, due to Wednesday's game being postponed. Wednesday was Skubal's turn in the rotation, and Thursday Skenes'. 

    As a baseball fan, I would have been very excited to see the two toe the rubber against one another, mano e mano. But of course, this didn't happen.

    It's to be expected since neither team wouldn't want to chance losing the game their ace is starting; and they didn't. The Tigers won game one with Skubal on the mound, the Pirates game two with Skenes. Though it makes for less exciting television, I suppose it was the logical answer, even if it feels lame from a fan's perspective.

    The annoying thing is that since the series was of the interleague variety, the teams won't play each other for a while now, and we were seriously this close to seeing the two best MLB pitchers facing each other at their best. I guess people need to live with disappointments 😂

    That's all I got for today's post. I'll be back next time with some LCS grabs. Thanks for checking out the blog, remember to have a great rest of the week, and happy collecting!

Paul Skenes and a Set Build

    If you wanna know who won the first annual blogoversary contest, you have to sit through this post and wait until the end :)

    A few weeks ago The Diamond King generously gave away 2024 Bowman Paul Skenes cards. So I claimed one. I got his PWE a little over a week ago and checked out the goodies inside. 

    This is the first Paul Skenes card I've ever owned. It's a sharp-looking card, and with my affinity for shininess, it doesn't disappoint. I wonder how Paul is going to fare in 2025; the league has already seen him once, but his stuff is other-worldly. What do y'all think?

    Now, in addition to this awesome card, The Diamond king also threw in a few cards for my extremely slowly progressing 2024 Topps Chrome Strokes build -- very generous.

    I now have five of the 25 cards, and all of them have come from The Diamond King. I'm trying to complete as much of the set as possible without buying cards online, and that proves to be an extremely slow process. But here I have received over 15% of the entire thing! Quite a nice and unexpected gift.

    So thank you to The Diamond King for the awesome cards! I feel like I've been thanking him a lot lately (this is the third post in a month where I've thanked him for cards). I still need to do my countdown the serial-numbered cards he gave me, but I keep forgetting. That'll be a project for the next week or two.

    Thank y'all for reading, have a great weekend, and happy collecting!

    Don't forget, I must announce the winner of my first Blogoversary's contest. I'm hoping to do a giveaway every year for the blog's birthday. Anyway, the winner, the first to have his name landed upon three times by the spinny wheel is.....

    Now John, if you could email me your shipping address, you can send it to doncardwellblog AT gmail DOT com, and I will get the cards sent out to you soon.

My Very Brief Commentaries on the MVP, ROY, and CYA

     The 2024 baseball season was filled with some extreme talent. There were two triple-crown winners among pitchers, and we had some rookies carrying their teams. All in all, the awards I'm giving my opinions on today should have been:

1) Fairly obvious choices

2) Well-deserved

The Rookie of the Year awards were announced on November 18th.
The Cy Young awards were announced on November 20th.
And the MVP awards were announced today.
I don't really care too much about the Manager of the Year awards.

NL Rookie of the Year:

Winner: Paul Skenes
My Choice: Jackson Merrill
Correct Choice: Either Skenes or Merrill

    I would have loved to see Jackson Merrill win the Rookie of the Year award. He not only was the most clutch hitter in MLB, but played stellar defense in center and took his team to the playoffs. However, it's hard to beat a flamethrower who posted an 11-3 record and 1.96 ERA. I think it could have gone either way, but of course, I'm a little bit biased :)
    What do y'all think? Who should have taken this one?

I don't have a Paul Skenes card :(

AL Rookie of the Year:

Winner: Luis Gil
My Choice: Mason Miller
Correct Choice: Mason Miller

    Mason Miller wasn't even a finalist for the Rookie of the Year. I feel they kind of jipped. He throws 104, threw to a 2.49 ERA, and collected 28 saves. His opposing slash line was .160/.233/.262, so he was near impossible to hit. Don't get me wrong, Luis Gil was solid (15-7, 3.50, 171 K), but he was inconsistent. At times he was lights-out, and at other times he looked horrible. I really think this one should have been Miller.

I don't have any Luis Gil cards either

NL Cy Young Award:

Winner: Chris Sale
My Choice: Chris Sale
Correct Choice: Chris Sale

    This one isn't very hard. Sale won the triple crown (18 wins, 2.38 ERA, 225 K). Though we have two dominant starters as the other two finalists in Zack Wheeler and Paul Skenes, you can't beat a triple crown. 

I do have Sale, but not with the Braves...

AL Cy Young Award:

Winner: Tarik Skubal
My Choice: Tarik Skubal
Correct Choice: Tarik Skubal

    I think this one was even easier. Tarik Skubal was likely the best pitcher in MLB this year, and like Sale, won a triple crown too (18 wins, 2.39 ERA, 228 K). And it was his 28th birthday yesterday when the award was announced, which makes for a nice gift. Emmanuel Clase was a finalist, which is kinda cool since he's a closer. Clase had an 0.61 ERA and 46 saves, so it's well-deserved. Seth Lugo is the other finalist, finishing as the second place man -- he was the only finalist with an ERA of 3.00.

This is my favorite card of Ubals that I own

NL MVP Award:

Winner: Shohei Ohtani
My Choice: Shohei Ohtani
Correct Choice: You guessed it, Shohei Ohtani

    I'm not gonna lie: I'm not the biggest Shohei fan. But come on, he had a 50-50 season. Even as a DH, with an offensive season that good (and his popularity), he can't lose. The other finalists were middle infielders in Ketel Marte and Francisco Lindor. They were both elite; but beating 54 homers and 59 steals is near impossible.

Bomb Squad seems right for the year Shohei had

AL MVP Award:

Winner: Aaron Judge
My Choice: Bobby Witt Jr.
Correct Choice: >sighs< Aaron Judge

    Bobby Witt played outstanding defense and was an incredible hitter (he won the batting title you know) from a harder position than Aaron Judge. But Aaron Judge did Aaron Judge things, belting 58 homers and batting .322. Not to mention his 144 RBI, 122 Runs, and OPS of 1.159. I think he'll be the next guy to win a triple crown for batting. They got it right, though I wanted Witt.

I don't know, I just like the picture on the card

Also, I gave my Stars of MLB Judge as part of a birthday gift

    

    There we go. I think for the most part, the BBWAA got the awards right. I would not have complained had Jackson Merrill won ROY or Bobby Witt MVP, but the winners were deserving of the award. What do y'all think? Did they get the awards right? What would y'all have done differently? 

    Well, thanks for reading, congrats to the winners of the awards, and happy collecting! Enjoy the rest of you week!

    I know that I said I didn't care about the Manager of the Year award. However, I would like to point out that Mark Kotsay made the leaderboard. The A's manager had a record of 69-93 -- he didn't get a vote for his record. I bet he got a vote for the way he dealt with his team leaving Oakland. Kotsay couldn't control the situation, but dealt with it the best he could. His speech on that last home game was great, and I think the fans appreciated it. I can commend that vote, even though he didn't win 100 games. 

What to Look Forward To

     Well, to put it bluntly, the All-Star Break begins tomorrow. The actual All-Star Game is to be played on July 16th, at Globe Life Field, home of the 2023 World Champion Texas Rangers.

    While my campaign failed to bear much fruit since Jose Altuve won the starting second base role for the AL All-Stars, Marcus Semien will be starting the game anyway. It appears that Altuve will miss the game while nursing a sore hand.

    While both of the All-Star teams look really good this year (with the exceptions of a few positions), there are a few players that I am dissapointed are left out.

    I'm gonna ignore the fact that Brenton Doyle has been one of the best hitters on one of my fantasy teams since I picked him up on waivers, and head straight to the stats. Doyle is batting .276 with 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases across his 92 games this season, and is playing beyond stellar defense in center field. Why he's not an All-Star, I don't think I'll ever know.

    Trevor Megill (with the Brewers) has been ridiculously good as closer in place of the injured Devin Williams. Megill has pitched to a 2.05 ERA in his 32 appearances. He has also acquired 18 saves, 10.9 K/9, and only 2.1 BB/9. I honestly haven't the slightest idea why he's not an All-Star.

    Justin Steele has been absolutely electric across his 14 starts this season. In his 86 1/3 innings pitched, Steele has a 2.71 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and 5.2% walk rate. However, his record stands at only 2-3 on the season, quite possibly the reason he's not in.

    I regret to inform all Cardinals fans that Tyler O'Neill is no longer on the team. He has, however, been raking with the Red Sox, batting .252 with 16 homers in only 68 games. Sure, the AL has a lot of good outfielders on their side. That's a definite fact. However, I would think there should be room for O'Neill on the team.

    Of course I mention Corey Seager. This is because he's batting .270 with 18 home runs in his 82 games this first half. He has also been very good in the field. And with the actual game being played in his home field, I would've thought he'd get more support.

    Though he struggled mightily his first two seasons in the Bigs (.191 batting average), Josh Smith has excelled this season in place of Josh Smith (who has a fractured wrist), batting at a nice .293 mark and reaching base at a wonderful .394 mark. He's also mashed 19 doubles and 10 home runs, while fielding like a Gold Glover at third base.

    I know that there are more snubs out there, but I'll stop with these six. I suppose it's possible that these players could get in as replacements, but I would highly doubt it by now, since the last games before the break have just finished up.

    Now then, my second order of business. Starting for the National League in the All-Star Game is the hot rookie prospect Paul Skenes. 

    Skenes has been amazing in his 11 major league starts. The Pirate has a 6-0 record and 1.90 ERA, while striking out 12.1 batters per nine innings and walking only 1.8. While 11 starts isn't a lot, the young Skenes has really earned the role as starter.

    The American League has yet to choose their starter, although I can imagine that Tarik Skubal will get the ball, with his 10-3 record, league-leading 2.41 ERA, and 10.9 K/9. He is also leading the league in Winning Percentage (.769) and WHIP (.088).

    This season proves to have an interesting All-Star Game, and I will definitely make sure to see it. Please tell me in the comments which talents you think were left out of the Midsummer Classic, and I hope y'all can get a chance to catch some of the game. As always, thanks for reading, happy collecting, and have an amazing start to your week!