Henry Blickenstaff is a junior studying history. He can be reached at henry.blickenstaff@tufts.edu.
Tufts softball traveled to Middletown, Conn. on Saturday to take on Wesleyan University in a NESCAC doubleheader. Riding shutdown pitching and hot bats, the Jumbos took both games in commanding fashion and improved to 26–5 on the season with a 12–2 record in NESCAC play. The latter is good for a four-game lead in the conference.
I’m aware that I’ve made fun of the White Sox before. But as a Cubs fan, I just can’t help myself. It’s hard to believe that just three seasons ago, this team was one of the best in baseball, winning the American League Central with 93 wins. But an abysmal start to the 2024 campaign is a reminder of how quickly the White Sox’ fortunes have changed.
Two of baseball’s best pitchers — the Braves’ Spencer Strider and the Guardians’ Shane Bieber —will miss the rest of 2024 with season-ending injuries to their ulnar collateral ligaments. It’s a reminder that pitching injuries are on the rise across baseball, and not just for the pros.
In honor of hot starts to the 2024 season by the two greatest position players of this generation, I wanted to show a little love to Mike Trout and Mookie Betts, who, in my opinion, have already secured their spots in Cooperstown despite being just 32 and 31, respectively. With the Angels never having won a playoff game in Trout’s career and Betts now having to play second fiddle to Shohei Ohtani at Dodger Stadium, these two living legends can get overlooked. Rather than make such a mistake, I’m looking at their substantial career accomplishments and evaluating their legacies accordingly.
Here are my predictions for the 2024 season, with each team’s 2023 record in parentheses. 10. Tampa Bay Rays (99—63)The Rays are tough to place. They’re coming off a fantastic regular season but will likely be missing their two best players — shortstop Wander Franco for legal issues and pitcher Shane McClanahan for Tommy John surgery — in 2024.
Honorable Mentions:Austin Riley, 3B, Braves; Francisco Lindor, SS, Mets; Julio Rodríguez, CF, Mariners10. Matt Olson, 1B, Atlanta BravesOlson has been one of the game’s best sluggers for the past several seasons. Since 2021, he has 127 homers and 353 RBIs with a .902 OPS, and he’s missed only six games in that span.
These are my thoughts on who will win the MVP and Cy Young awards in each league, as well as some dark horses to watch out for. National League MVP My pick: Mookie Betts, Dodgers
I am well aware that just last month, I went on a tirade claiming that baseball was broken because of the lack of spending limits. But, just because I don’t like the system doesn’t mean certain teams aren’t stupid for not taking advantage of it. Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs — I’m looking at you.
PECOTA stands for Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm. It’s a fancy way of describing a system used by the organization Baseball Prospectus to predict the MLB standings in a given season, which it does every year. Let’s just say I’m not too crazy about the algorithm — and not just because it doesn’t have the Chicago Cubs winning the National League Central. These are, in my opinion, the five most insane PECOTA projections from this year’s iteration.
It’s Aug. 18, 2023. My friend and I had bought last-minute tickets to see the Chicago Cubs play the Kansas City Royals at Wrigley Field. A Cubs win should have been a safe bet — they had been playing good baseball since mid-July, but more importantly, Kansas City was an abysmal 39–84. Unfortunately, Bobby Witt Jr. had other ideas.
