As many people already know, many sports have come to a delay, including Major League Baseball. There is still some uncertainty on how this season will go. How many games will there be in the regular season? What will be the playoff structure? While some things remain unanswered, some teams could take positives away from this bizarre situation. Here are some MLB teams that can benefit from the pushed back season.
One of the biggest reasons the Astros can benefit from this is that, at least for now, they are not facing as much scrutiny from the media. This of course goes back to the cheating scandal that the Astros are facing. The spring training games they played in involved a lot of booing, and it’ll likely carry into the regular season. However, they may not face the backlash they would’ve had the season played out like normal.
Another potential way the Astros can benefit from this delayed season involves the loss of Gerrit Cole. Cole is now on the New York Yankees, so the Astros pitching rotation may be less talented than it was in 2019. If less games are played this year, that can help the Astros use some of their other pitchers more since the team will likely pitch less innings in a short season.
The Yankees dealt with numerous amounts of injuries in 2019. That trend was continuing in 2020, with players such as Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton being scheduled to miss Opening Day had it started on time. Now they should be ready to play whenever the 2020 MLB season starts. There’s also a chance that outfielder Aaron Hicks and pitcher James Paxton could be ready for the start of the season as well. Paxton being available could really help the Yankees’ rotation, which has already lost Luis Severino for the year due to Tommy John surgery.
The Pirates were still in the playoff race at the end of May in 2019 as they were 28-28. Josh Bell slashed .390/.442/.797 with 24 extra-base hits in 29 games in May of 2019. (Image from Flipboard)
Last season, the World Series Champion Washington Nationals started the season 19-31. Depending on how many games the 2020 season ends up being, that might be too big of a hole to climb out of. Then there was the Padres, who were 17-13 after April, but finished last in the division after the regular season.
With less games in a season, some of the lesser favored teams can get hot, and it could end up giving them a better chance at the Postseason since they’ll have less games to cool down. The other side could work, too, meaning that a World Series contender can get off to a slow start and will have less games to comeback from it.
Some players can post some impressive stat lines as well from this. An example is first basemen Josh Bell, who slashed .302/.376/.648 before the All-Star game, and slowed down to .233/.351/.429 after the break.
Feature Image Courtesy of sportingnews.com
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from TGH writers along with Tommy.
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
