2015 MLB Preview: National League East

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Jason

The Washington Nationals look like the best team in baseball.

Fresh off a 96-win campaign — a season in which Nats hurlers led the majors in ERA — Washington added former Cy Young winner Max Scherzer to front the rotation. Can you imagine facing Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Jordan Zimmermann in a short series? Gio Gonzalez and Doug Fister would be #2s on most rotations; in Washington, they’re #4 and #5. Health could be a factor early: star outfielder Jayson Werth continues to recover from offseason surgery; leadoff hitter and center fielder Denard Span is going to miss time in April as he heals from surgery on an abdominal muscle; last season’s MVP, infielder Anthony Rendon, is nicked up, too; and Bryce Harper is always one headfirst slide away from a stint on the disabled list.

But this is a team built for a title run. After two playoff appearances the past three seasons, anything short of a deep October run will be a disappointment for this club.

One of the reasons to be so bullish about the Nationals is the fact that they get to play many of their games against the rest of the scrubs in this lackluster division.

Things are looking better for the Mets and the Marlins, both longtime doormats in this division. The Marlins have a great young outfield led by the $300 million man, Giancarlo Stanton. But the supporting cast is the best in Stanton’s brief career. Scouts love Christian Yelich, say he’s a future batting champion. Marcell Ozuna had a breakout 25 HR season last year. Veteran imports Martin Prado and Mike Morse lengthen the lineup a bit. The Marlins are banking on Dee Gordon’s electric first half and choosing to ignore his so-so final three months. The pitching staff is capable and if they stay afloat the midseason addition of ace Jose Fernandez could vault the Marlins into the wild card discussion.

The Mets entered the season with wild card aspirations as well, although that kind of talk sounded a lot more realistic prior to Zack Wheeler’s season-ending surgery. As it stands, the Mets will rely on the return of young ace Matt Harvey, who has looked great this spring. In Jacob DeGrom, Bartolo Colon, Jon Niese, and Dillon Gee, the Metropolitans have a decent (if unspectacular) rotation. And there’s more help down on the farm in Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, and Rafael Montero. I don’t know what to think of the lineup. David Wright looks like he’s lost a step. Same for Curtis Granderson. Michael Cuddyer is 85 years old. I could see the Mets piddling around at .500 this season.

How the mighty have fallen. Time was the Phillies and Braves were the class of the NL East. Both clubs are in the midst of rebuilding efforts, so don’t look for much from them in 2015. At this point, it’s hard to remember that the Braves were a first place club last July. They spent the offseason dealing away Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, and Evan Gattis, which would seem to signal a complete dismantling. But the decision to sign Nick Markakis to a four-year, $40 million deal makes little sense for a club in transition. Freddie Freeman will hold the fort down as the Braves prepare for a move to the suburbs in a few years. Maybe by then they’ll be ready to be a factor once again. But for now, this might be the worst Atlanta team in 25 years.

At least the Braves get to play the Phillies a lot. It’s only a matter of time before they deal Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon. Cliff Lee is looking like he might be done. And Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are shells of their former selves. It’s been a long slow fade for a club that won 102 games in 2011. Time to give the youngsters a look and build toward the next run of division crowns.

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2015 MLB Preview: American League West

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Jason

This is another really interesting division. It’s top heavy with two good teams in the Angels and the Mariners. Thanks to Mike Trout’s MVP numbers, a resurgent Albert Pujols, and a lights out bullpen, the Angels cruised to an MLB-best 98 regular season wins last year. If Garret Richards returns healthy, the Halos could continue to be a force in this division. Losing Josh Hamilton and Howie Kendrick makes for a different dynamic in the lineup, but Mike Scioscia has to hope that Matt Joyce and C.J. Cron can provide protection for Trout and Pujols. Rookie Andrew Heaney came over in the Kendrick deal; he may be the X factor for this year’s squad. If he asserts himself as a #3 starter in the rotation, the Angels will be formidable once again.

But I’m picking Seattle to win the division. By addressing their glaring need for right handed power in signing Nelson Cruz, the Mariners will trot out their best starting nine in over a decade. Robinson Cano, Cruz, and Kyle Seager form a dynamic left-right-left trio in the heart of the lineup. No one was hotter down the stretch than 1B Logan Morrison. And the RF platoon of Seth Smith and Justin Ruggiano will be fantastic. King Felix is at the top of his game and he fronts a deep rotation mixed with veterans (Hisashi Iwakuma and J.A. Happ) and young flamethrowers (James Paxton and Taijuan Walker). I think this is one of the most complete teams in the game and I could see them running away with the pennant.

The A’s had a weird offseason. I’m normally a big Billy Beane fan, but I just don’t get these moves. I’m not sure I would’ve given up Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss so easily. But the rebuild plan was seemingly stymied by the signing of Royals castoff Billy Butler to a three-year, $30 million contract. The Ben Zobrist pickup was nice, but with so many pieces being dealt off, you have to wonder if this team will score enough runs to matter. The pitching should be okay, although Sean Doolittle’s injury has to be concerning. Unless something crazy happens, I don’t see the A’s finishing higher than third in this division.

The Rangers are snakebitten. After suffering more serious injuries to key players than any other club in 2014, this spring began on a similarly ominous note as ace Yu Darvish went down with injury. Word is Prince Fielder is in killer shape, so it’ll be nice to see how he bounces back. And Adrian Beltre continues to quietly put together a HoF-worthy legacy. But the Rangers wont’ be a factor past the All-Star break.

Same thing for Houston, although this is the year Astros fans should begin to see some signs of life. Things are trending the right direction for some of the club’s prospects and the additions of Evan Gattis, Jed Lowrie, Luke Gregerson, and Pat Neshek should help the parent club. The Astros are still a couple of years away from a realistic wild card run, but I’m rooting for GM Jeff Luhnow (former member of the Cards front office).

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Things I Want to Remember, Vol. 28

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Jason

March 26, 2015

That’s the day that I decided to open up a few windows to let in a nice cool spring breeze. I started with the windows in the kitchen and the dining room. It was a little stuffy in the house and the cool breeze immediately swept through and made things WAY more comfortable.

So I decided to go upstairs and open a few of the bedroom windows.

Jackson was watching me. He watched me open the window in his bedroom, his UPSTAIRS bedroom.

“Dad,” he asked, “can you take out that screen from my window, too?”

“No, son. If I remove the screen, there’s nothing there to keep you from falling out.”

Blank stare.

It was like you could actually see wheels turning in his little mind.

We came home the next day to find that he’d opened the window on his own. In fact, he left the window open all day — a day that included off and on rain, wind gusts, and temperatures that dipped down to the 30s.

The screen is still intact.

So far.

I’m picturing a moment in the not-so-distant future when I look out my kitchen window to see the bottoms of my son’s feet as he dangles from his bedroom window — the same child that locked me out of the house as a toddler; the child that we’ve found on top of the refrigerator; the child that as a two-year-old climbed his way to the top of our pantry.

When that moment occurs — when I can actually see the bottoms of his feet out my kitchen window — I can point back to March 26, 2015 as the day it all started.

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2015 MLB Preview: American League Central

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Jason

We’ve already previewed the AL East. Now it’s time for the Central Division:

AL Central

This is the deepest division in baseball. Detroit has been the gold standard in the Central for years and no doubt they’ll be gunning for a fifth straight division title. But they’ll have to contend with a much-improved White Sox team after the offseason additions of Jeff Samardzija, Adam LaRoche, Melky Cabrera, David Robertson, and Zach Duke. The Indians are on the rise, too, bolstered by one of the best young pitching staffs in the game and a dynamic offense built around MVP candidate Michael Brantley. And that’s to say nothing of the pennant-defending Kansas City Royals. Only the cellar-dwelling Twins have no realistic claim at contention this summer.

Let’s begin with the Tigers. If everyone is healthy, this is the best lineup in the division, rivaling Boston and Toronto as one of the best starting nine in the league. Ian Kinsler, Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, Yoenis Cespedes, and J.D. Martinez make for quite an imposing #2-6 spots. But that “if healthy” tag is important: VMart is still recovering from meniscus surgery; and Cabrera’s foot issues might linger past Opening Day. Expect plenty of production from these two, but don’t be surprised if they struggle out of the gate. The rotation will miss departed ace Max Scherzer, but the key is Justin Verlander. If he can bounce back from last year’s dead arm and diminished velocity, he and David Price will form a dynamic pair at the front of the rotation. If his performance continues to hover at league replacement level, however, the Tigers could be in trouble. Without a lights out bullpen, the Tigers success will likely hinge upon the performance of Verlander and fellow starter Anibal Sanchez.

Look for the White Sox to be among the most improved teams in the league. On the heels of last season’s 73 win performance, the Sox aggressively added pieces to put them in a position to contend. Adam Eaton, Melky Cabrera, Jose Abreu, Adam LaRoche, Avisail Garcia and Alexi Ramirez give the Sox a solid core of veteran production. Chris Sale, Jeff Samardzija, and Jose Quintana anchor a good rotation. But the real problem areas are the bottom of the lineup and the back of the rotation. If phenom Carlos Rodon wins a starting spot this spring, the Sox rotation could be dominant. The bullpen was last year’s Achilles, but the addition of Robertson should shore up the late innings. If Rodon contributes meaningful innings, I could see the Pale Hose hanging around in this race for a long time.

But my pick for the division is Cleveland. I hate that they’re the trendy pick; I just saw that Sports Illustrated picked them to win the Series. But I was bullish on them before reading any of that. Begin with Terry Francona. If you didn’t appreciate what he was able to accomplish during his tenure with Boston, his two seasons in Cleveland have proven that the guy is a great manager. He operates with a fantastic rotation fronted by reigning A.L. Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber, followed by young power arms Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, T.J. House, Danny Salazar, and Zach McAllister. Brandon Moss, who came over in the A’s bizarre winter retool, brings another power bat to a deep lineup. Expect Jason Kipnis to rebound after struggling with an oblique injury last summer. With a stable full of flamethrowers and no discernable holes in the everyday lineup, Cleveland could boast one of the best records in the league, giving Indians fans something to be excited about.

It seems odd to project the defending A.L. champs to finish fourth in their division, but that’s the reality in KC this summer. The loss of James Shields, while a foregone conclusion, really changes the dynamic of the pitching staff. Young flamethrower Yordano Ventura — he of 198.3 career innings pitched in the regular season — is the de facto staff ace. Edinson Volquez, Jason Vargas, and Jeremy Guthrie provide veteran (if unspectacular) depth behind Ventura. The wild card is the offseason signing of former Brave Kris Medlen. Prior to his second TJ surgery, Medlen was one of the most productive starters in the National League. If he returns to form, he could provide an incredible midseason boost to the Royals pennant defense. In the offseason, the Royals bid adieu to longtime DH Billy Butler (whose “Country Breakfast” nickname is one of the best in the game) and brought in RF Alex Rios and DH Kendry Morales. Rios has always been a bit of an enigma, vacillating between great and below average. Ditto for Morales. But the Royals have to hope that they help an offense that was woefully short on power last season. Both vets will need renaissance seasons in order for the Royals to repeat.

The most exciting thing going on with the Twins this summer will be the continued development of minor leaguers Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano.

I expect the Indians to win the division with the Tigers and White Sox close behind them.

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2015 MLB Preview: American League East

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Jason

Time for my annual preview of the upcoming MLB season. I’ll just say right off the bat that there are a few teams that I really like in the American League. In fact, I could see three new division winners across the AL this year. Here’s a division-by-division breakdown of the Junior Circuit.

AL East

I’m seeing a lot of love for the BoSox among prognostications. I think some forecasters are enamored at the possibility of a worst-to-first-to-worst-to-first narrative here. Boston spent the winter loading up on the game’s most scarce commodity: power. With the additions of switch-hitting 3B Pablo Sandoval and new LF Hanley Ramirez, the Sox lineup might be the deepest in the game. Mookie Betts has looked like a revelation in camp this spring. If vets Dustin Pedroia, Shane Victorino, David Ortiz, and Mike Napoli just have average seasons, Boston could still pace the league in runs scored. But I think the offense will need to be elite to keep pace with a pedestrian pitching staff that lacks a true #1. Truthfully, most of these guys would be #3 or #4 on any other big league pitching staff. With news that Koji Uehara is injured to begin the season, the bullpen looks ordinary, too. Expect a lot of 8-6 ball games in Boston this summer. Without a pitching upgrade, I see Boston winning 84-86 games.

I really like Toronto in the East. The Jays boast the only lineup that can keep pace with Boston. The big move was the acquisition of 3B Josh Donaldson from Oakland. In Donaldson, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion, the Jays could get 100 HR, 300 RBI production out of #3-5 in the order. C Russell Martin is also a difference maker behind the plate. The Jays season will hinge on the contributions of a bevy of high-upside but unproven players. Top prospects Aaron Sanchez and Daniel Norris will be given the opportunity to prove their wares in the rotation. Speedster Dalton Pompey has been given the CF job. Rookies Miguel Castro and Robert Osuna are poised to be key contributors in the bullpen setting up new closer Brett Cecil. It’s not a given that these young players will pan out, but this is a team that is trending in the right direction. I think they could be a surprise team this season.

Of course, you can never count out the O’s, at least not as long as Buck Showalter is at the helm. They lost Nelson Cruz, Nick Markakis, and Andrew Miller from last year’s 96 win club. If Matt Weiters, Chris Davis, and Manny Machado all return to form, the lineup should continue to be strong. But these O’s may not quite have enough to surpass Boston and Toronto.

Ditto for the Yankees and the Rays. The Yankees simply don’t have enough pitching, even if Masahiro Tanaka and C.C. Sabathia bounce back. The lineup is filled with question marks as well. Will Jacoby Ellsbury’s oblique injury linger? How capably will Did Gregorius fill the vacancy at SS? How much do Carlos Beltran and Mark Teixeira have left in the tank? And will the circus that constantly surrounds Alex Rodriguez continue to be a distraction? The win total in the Bronx is trending in the wrong direction: 97 (2011) to 95 (2012) to 85 (2013) to 84 (2014). Expect more of the same this summer.

After the loss of GM Andrew Friedman and manager Joe Maddon, the Rays are in a complete rebuild. With Alex Cobb, Drew Smyly, Chris Archer, and Jake Odorizzi, the Rays have the pitching to contend right now, but the lineup was already anemic before the trade of Ben Zobrist.

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Things I Want to Remember, Vol. 27

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Jason

Today, Abby Kate took notes during my sermon. Tonight, she came to me and told me that she’d “made up” a saying. Here it is:

Love is God’s way of taking care of us.

Pretty good, don’t you think? She followed it up by saying, “I think this is SO true!” I have to agree.

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The Habit of Courage

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Jason

Fall Books PreviewI’m currently reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s most recent book, The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism and it’s fantastic so far. I read her Team of Rivals a few years back and I still contend that it’s one of the best books on leadership I’ve ever read. I’m only a few chapters in, but Goodwin has already intrigued me with her perspective on the importance of the relationship between Roosevelt and Taft. I’m really looking forward to this read.

Goodwin recounts the early years of both men: Taft’s upbringing as the son of a prominent attorney in Cincinnati and Roosevelt’s sickly childhood in Manhattan. Asthma and stomach problems forced Roosevelt (or “Teedie” as he was called) to frequent periods of bed rest as a child. Fearing that his son was becoming too frail and timid, Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., according to legend, pulled his young son aside and said, “Theodore, you have the mind but you have not the body, and without the help of the body the mind cannot go as far as it should. You must make your body. It is hard drudgery to make one’s body, but I know you will do it.” Young Teedie is purported to have responded with typically steely Roosevelt determination: “I’ll make my body.”

Cue the Rocky Balboa workout montage.

Goodwin reports another anecdote along these same lines. As a young man, Roosevelt embarked on a stagecoach ride to Maine and was beleaguered by two older boys for the duration of the trip. When he made an attempt to fight back, Roosevelt came to the hapless conclusion that he was powerless to fend off even one of his attackers, much less both of them. Never again, Teddy vowed, prompting a workout regimen that forged the vibrant, lively, fearless version of Roosevelt that abides in our collective consciousness to this day.

Goodwin records Roosevelt’s own words on his character formation: “There were all kinds of things of which I was afraid at first, but by acting as if I was not afraid I gradually ceased to be afraid.” In modern parlance, fake it till you make it. Goodwin continues:

As a childhood friend observed, “by constantly forcing himself to do the difficult or even dangerous thing,” he was able to cultivate courage as “a matter of habit, in the sense of repeated effort and repeated exercise of will-power.”

I find that remark fascinating. For most of my life, I’ve considered courage to be a character trait — something you possess. Moreover, I’ve always considered courage to be something that only some people possess. Courageous people to courageous things because of their innate courage. Right?

But these comments from and about Roosevelt challenge that view. For Roosevelt, courage was a choice, something he regularly put into practice even when he didn’t feel it viscerally. The picture of Roosevelt in our mind’s eye — the Colonel, the Rough Rider, the picture of masculinity and fearlessness — was product of countless choices, choosing to be courageous, choosing to do the difficult thing, even in the face of great odds. If courage truly is a choice, then it dispels our notion of innate heroism possessed by only a select few. If courage is a choice, then it stands as a viable option for you and me.

Or to put it another way, per the comments about Roosevelt, courage is a habit, something to be cultivated through repeated effort. I like this way of thinking about courage, too, for there is much here for our consumption. If courage is a choice, then it can also become a habit, a default posture for us when facing adversity. If habits are developed practices, then in order to develop courage I need to repeatedly force myself outside of my comfort zone. This means we’ve had it backward all along. You don’t take risks because you’re courageous; you’re courageous because you take risks.

This illuminates the biblical mandate for God’s people to be strong and courageous, free from fear and alive by the promise of God’s presence (Joshua 1). Joshua repeatedly hears this command from the LORD throughout his career as he leads Israel to inhabit the Promised Land. But I think I understand more clearly the intention of these words: as a summons for God’s people to choose faithful courage over the temptation of fearful rationalization; and as a deepening cultivation of valor as formative habit in the life of faith.

Make courage a habit.

Take risks.

Choose courage over fear.

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The Ruin of Joseph

Posted on February 22, 2015 by Jason

Tonight, the 87th annual Academy Awards will be held in Hollywood.

Expected viewership in this country will be in the tens of millions.

Meanwhile, half a world away, ISIL / ISIS continues to slaughter Christians at an alarming rate.

The older I get, the more I’m trying to see things from a spiritual perspective, to follow the words of Colossians 3 and to set my mind and heart on “things above” rather than things here on earth. I don’t want to come across as someone who has all of this mastered; far from it. I’m still struggling to be faithful to this command.

And I don’t have a particular axe to grind with regard to Hollywood. I could just as easily have written this post on Super Bowl Sunday and made the same point.

But I’ve come to believe that much of American culture — our politics, media, music, sports, etc. — is Satan’s tool to distract me from the spiritual reality of the kingdom of God. The world is in the throes of a great and cosmic spiritual struggle…and I’m being lulled to sleep by the siren song of frivolity. Just think about the percentage of conversations we have that are concerned with things that have absolutely no eternal significance. I have to wonder if the church in the United States isn’t getting dangerously close to the situation that Amos spoke out against in the 8th century BC. Amos, a down south shepherd from Tekoa, was called by God to preach a message of repentance in the northern kingdom of Israel.

Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches, and eat lambs from the midst of the stall, who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and like David invent for themselves instruments of music, who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile, and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away. (Amos 6:4-7)

Consider this post my attempt at working all of this out in my mind. Consider this my repentance for not being more grieved over the ruin of Joseph. According to NT scholar Clarence Jordan, the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:4 (Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted,) carry a sense of grieving over the state of affairs in the world. Christ followers should be grieved over the many daily injustices that are committed against fellow believers. Moreover, we should mourn every injustice carried out by the forces of darkness and this grief should prompt us to respond in ways that bring comfort.

Today my prayers are with followers of Jesus around the world, particularly in places where they are being called to risk much for the sake of the Kingdom. May our Lord give you strength in your inner being and power through His Spirit out of the wellspring of his glorious riches (Eph. 3:16).

Posted in Faith, Kingdom Values, Movies, Prayer, Scripture, Sermon on the Mount, Social Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Winter Wonderland

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Jason

When you live in Alabama, this is about as “wintry” as it gets. Better than ice, I guess. Stay safe!

2015/02/img_1510.jpg

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Boundaries

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Jason

So a certain polarizing film was released this weekend. Plenty of articles have been circulating on social media telling you why you shouldn’t see Fifty Shades of Grey. I agree with what I’ve read; based on what I know, I don’t think you should see it. But I also don’t think the cyber-sphere needs one more article addressing all of that, so that’s not where I’m going with this post.

But the whole craze surrounding Fifty Shades of Grey has prompted a line of questions I’d like to pose to my fellow Christians:

  • As a follower of Jesus, are there certain films or shows you won’t watch?
  • As a follower of Jesus, are there certain books you won’t read?
  • As a follower of Jesus, are there certain songs you won’t listen to?
  • As a follower of Jesus, are there certain video games you won’t play?

You get the idea.

We all have a relationship with certain types of media. This is undeniable and not necessarily a bad thing. After all, I like to think those leather-bound study Bibles are good forms of media. But the overarching media-related question for those of us who follow Jesus should be, “Where are the boundaries?” Does following Jesus have any direct bearing on my media consumption? If we find ourselves engaging certain forms of media each day, how can we reconcile this with Christ’s call that we take up our crosses daily as we seek to follow Him (Luke 9:23)? Does Jesus have anything to say about where the boundaries should be in my life?

I think many Christians suffer from perceived invincibility here. Deep down, we know that engagement with certain forms of media isn’t necessarily good for us, but we also falsely believe we can handle it. Perhaps this line of reasoning is common to you: “Yeah, I know so-and-so is violent or crass or worldly, but it’s just entertainment. I can handle it.” I see this kind of mindset particularly among Christians my age or younger. And I have to concede that it’s at least possible that some of us are able to “handle it.” But I’m afraid that when we do this, we turn a blind eye to the very real danger that many times we simply can’t handle it.

Which prompts another question for my fellow Christians: If you weren’t able to handle it, how would you know? What metric would you use? I think this is a question we need to be able to answer. Discernment here might help us more properly appropriate Christ-focused and Christ-centered boundaries in our lives.

Predictably, Fifty Shades of Grey is a box-office smash ($90 million and counting). It’s up to you to decide whether or not to see the film. But as followers of Jesus, I simply ask that we exercise discernment in establishing the kind of boundaries that help us to live as salt and light — as a contrast community in the world.

Posted in Books, Faith, Jesus, Kingdom Values, Movies, Theology | Tagged , | 9 Comments