RAYS WILL RELY ON OPENER STRATEGY TO TRY TO FEND OFF MIGHTY YANKEES
1RAYS
O/U WINS: 34
PLAYER WHO’LL NEED TO STEP UP: Hunter
Renfroe. He is talented enough to have hit the same 33 homers as Meadows last year despite playing home games in pitching-haven San Diego. But Renfroe also managed to bat just .216 with a .289 on-base percentage. The Rays obtained Renfroe hoping to unlock a righty complement to Meadows, who was taken four picks ahead of Renfroe, who went 13th overall in the 2013 draft.
NAME YOU’LL GET TO KNOW: Nick Anderson. Who was the best reliever in the majors from Aug. 1 on last year? The Rays obtained Anderson on July 31 from the Mariners, and from there on he struck out 41 of the 78 batters he faced and walked just two while holding batters to a .160 batting average. He has one of the majors’ best curveballs. Tampa Bay does not lock itself into relief roles, but traded its primary closer, Emilio Pagan, in the offseason, so Anderson’s importance only grows.
BIGGEST QUESTION MARK: Will they score enough? No team can go as comfortably 20 or 25 deep with pure pitching stuff as the Rays. They again project as elite run preventers. To outdo the Yankees in the AL East, the Rays have to score more. The wild card in all of this is Wander
Franco. He is just 19. He has not played above High-A. But he is the consensus best prospect in the game, which means the shortstop has a chance to show up at some point and make an impact. Will that be 2020?
HOW IT’LL GO DOWN: The pioneers of the opener have in many ways been unknowingly preparing to play a 60-game season. By deploying multiple pitchers to attack each game, the Rays were putting September emphasis on games all the time. The oodles of power arms are even more of a blessing in this forum.
2 YANKEES
O/U WINS: 37 ¹/₂
KEY PLAYER: James Paxton (right). There is no Luis Severino or Domingo German this season.
Masahiro Tanaka could be limited early after taking a
Giancarlo Stanton liner off the head. So the need for Paxton to be a worthy No. 2 behind Gerrit Cole grows. Paxton has never stayed healthy enough to qualify for an ERA title in a 162-game season. Can he make 12 starts after an offseason in which he had back surgery?
PLAYER WHO’LL NEED TO STEP UP: Gary Sanchez. He has been on the injured list four times in the last two seasons, all for lower-body maladies. How many games does he catch this year? Because the backup now is not the reliable Austin Romine, but the greater unknown of Kyle Higashioka.
Can Sanchez avoid injury, extended strikeout binges and persistent passed balls?
NAME YOU’LL GET TO KNOW: Clarke Schmidt. Severino and German are out. Tanaka, Aroldis Chapman and Luis Cessa are either out or dubious for at least the start of the season. The Yankees will be challenged to cover innings. Schmidt, the 16th-overall pick in 2017, has navigated from Tommy John surgery to potential key piece along with other youngsters such as Deivi Garcia and Jonathan Loaisiga. BIGGEST QUESTION MARK: How much of last year wasafluke? Players such as Mike Ford, Mike Tauchman and Gio Urshela went from unknowns to major producers. Was this a sign of an organization that will always find a way or fortune?
HOW IT’LL GO DOWN: The Yankees have depth of talent, and what is interesting is the team once owned by George Steinbrenner now believes in patience over the course of a season to let the depth of talent win out. The depth is obviously valuable no matter how many games, but are the dents in the pitching health a bad omen from the outset?
3 BLUE JAYS
O/U WINS: 28¹/₂
KEY PLAYER: Hyun-Jin Ryu. Before internally believing they were true contenders, the Blue Jays front office stepped out of its financial comfort zone to hand Ryu a four-year, $80 million pact. His 2.32 ERA led the NL for the Dodgers last year.
PLAYER WHO’LL NEED TO STEP UP: Vladimir
Guerrero Jr. He was good last year, but not as good as fellow 2019 rookie, shortstop
Bo Bichette. The Jays envision a future in which that duo anchors the lineup for years. Guerrero was moved from third to first this year to give him greater comfort.
NAME YOU’LL GET TO KNOW: Nate Pearson. He is 6-foot-6, 250 pounds and throws his fastball at triple
digits regularly.
BIGGEST QUESTION
MARK: How does a mostly young roster handle being team nomad? Canada’s government barred the Blue Jays from playing their home games in Toronto. So in this already strange season, they are looking at essentially 60 road games. This for a team in which just two players, Randal Grichuk and Travis Shaw ,are the only members of the nine position players with even more than three years experience.
HOW IT’LL GO DOWN: If their young players continue to progress and they can turn closer Ken Giles into another piece or two by the Aug. 31 trade deadline, that would mark this as a step-forward season.
4 RED SOX
O/U WINS: 29¹/₂
KEY PLAYER: Nathan
Eovaldi. Rick Porcello left in free agency. David Price was traded.
Eduardo Rodriguez was on the COVID-19 IL during much of spring training 2.0. Chris Sale will miss all of 2020 following Tommy John surgery. They made a combined 113 starts last year. Boston needs Eovaldi to have results befitting his stuff if, for nothing else, to perhaps make him more attractive in a trade.
PLAYER WHO’LL NEED TO STEP UP: Alex Verdugo. In Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez, Boston still has a formidable lineup top four. But not as formidable as when Mookie Betts was in it. He was traded to the Dodgers and Verdugo was the key piece in return.
NAME YOU’LL GET TO KNOW: Bobby Dalbec. He missed the early portion of spring training 2.0 recovering from coronavirus. To gain playing time, he may have to move from third, where Devers plays, to first.
BIGGEST QUESTION MARK: Just how far will a 2020 teardown go? The 2018 season ended in a championship, with Betts as Boston’s best player and Sale the best pitcher. Can the Sox find new homes for Martinez, Eovaldi and perhaps Benintendi and a talented reliever such as Matt Barnes or Brandon Workman? HOW IT’LL GO DOWN: The rotation is too shattered, so even contention over 60 games will be difficult.
5ORIOLES
O/U WINS: 21 KEY PLAYER: Mike
Elias. In his second year as general manager, Elias oversees a roster that does not clearly have a player that will be part of the next good Orioles team beyond perhaps starter John Means and reliever
Hunter Harvey. Elias was part of the Astros teardown/buildup and has arguably a tougher task here.
PLAYER WHO’LL NEED TO STEP UP: Harvey.
The 22nd pick in the 2013 draft, Harvey has managed just 6 ¹/₃ innings in the majors due to injury.
NAME YOU’LL GET TO KNOW: Ryan Mountcastle. His bat appears ready, but questions persist where on the diamond
(third, first, corner outfield) he will play and whether the Orioles will start his service clock this year.
BIGGEST QUESTION
MARK: Is there anything more important than getting closertotheendof contracts for Chris
Davis (two years at $46 million after this season) and Alex
Cobb (one year at $15 million)?
HOW IT’LL GO DOWN:
The Yankees went 17-2 versus the Orioles in 2019 and won the division by seven games over the Rays, who were 12-7 against Baltimore. For now, the Orioles are a piñata that the best teams must beat up on over 162 games or 60.