Due to his recent batting and his obvious skill as a fielder and base runner, Billy Hamilton is a hot topic for trade talks. Now that he’s started to hit well, he could be an extremely valuable asset to a playoff contender, but the Reds might keep him if they become one of those contenders. With one of the best offenses in baseball, they seem like a team that should easily lock up the National League Central, but because their pitching has been abysmal, they’re stuck fighting to stay out of last place!
If Tyler Mahle and Sal Romano can jumpstart this Cincinnati rotation into pitching as good as they should, not only could they keep Raisel Iglesias for a postseason run, but they could keep their Gold Glove candidate, Hamilton. #6 is an absolute demon on the basepaths and he makes the ESPN Top Ten almost weekly with his outstanding outfield diving grabs. A team like the Atlanta Braves would really benefit from gaining him. Their center fielder, Ender Inciarte, is batting .333, with five strikeouts, and no stolen bases in his last seven games. His play is declining (He’s hitting .252 on the year.) and he is nowhere near as valuable as BH in the outfield. The Washington Nationals should look into Hamilton. Adam Eaton, their CF, is batting .346, with five strikeouts, and no stolen bases in the last seven games (In fact, Eaton hasn’t stolen a single base all year, so Washington could definitely use Hamilton’s speed.). His Defensive Wins Above Replacement is a terrible -0.5, 0.9 below Hamilton’s +0.4. The Milwaukee Brewers could use Hamilton because he and Lorenzo Cain, their center fielder, are similar players, but Hamilton is five years younger and in much better shape. Cain is batting .400, with four Ks, and four stolen bases in his last seven. Hamilton however, is a better fielder and is much, much faster. Hamilton is batting .409, with only three Ks, and 4 stolen bases in just the last seven games. During these games, the Reds have gone 5-2. They are in the midst of a four game win streak, as well, so things are looking up for the Reds. Luis Castillo, Romano, and Mahle all have unimpressive Earned Run Averages, Mahle’s being the lowest at 3.89, Romano at 5.18, Castillo at 5.77. Mahle leads the team in wins as he is 6-6, Romano is 4-7, and Castillo is 4-8. Mahle and castillo have struckout 76 each and Romano 56. These stats are not impressive by any means, but in the last month Castillo is 0-3 in incredibly close games, Romano is 1-1, but Mahle is 3-0. In the last month, Romano has a 2.70 ERA, Castillo has a 6.89 ERA, and Mahle has a 1.61 ERA. During June, Romano struckout 14, Castillo struckout 15, and Mahle struckout 20. If the Cincy starting pitching continues to improve and Hamilton’s bat becomes better, the Reds would have to keep him, so he can finally fulfill his destiny to be great for the Reds. Hamilton’s bat has improved of late (and the Reds really only need him to bunt it down the third base line because he’ll almost always beat the throw to first and then he’ll steal second and third with ease.), so teams are now seeing him as the major asset that he is. If the Reds don’t have a shot at the postseason, they’ll likely trade BHam to a playoff contender for some younger prospects, tough. The Reds are 17th in baseball in runs, tenth in hits, and ninth in batting average, so it’s evident that pitching is the problem. Thankfully their pitching has improved of late, so if they can keep their momentum they’ll be a postseason team and Billy Hamilton will stay in the plain red and white of the Queen City. Jesse A. Cook “Reds’ Good Pitching Keeps Hamilton” June 22, 2018
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With the Golden State Warriors’ recent championship repeat, people are wondering who can beat them. The Cleveland Cavaliers are the only team to ever beat the Steph Curry era Warriors in the Finals, but with their star, LeBron James, likely leaving for a new team, the Cavs are sort of out of the running. Although, the constant threats of the Houston Rockets, New Orleans Pelicans, and Utah Jazz are present, LeBron’s looking to other Eastern Conference Teams add the Philadelphia 76ers, the New York Knicks, or the Boston Celtics.
Also looking at heading to the Rockets, Pelicans, Jazz, Spurs, and Lakers, there’s a plethora of possible locations for the King. We all know that any team run by LeBron has a shot against the Warriors, so his choices greatly affect who could topple the terrible team trying to three-peat. This article will cover both teams that could beat the Warriors as is, and their chances with him. As for the teams who could win with LeBron, we’ll only look over the teams that could acquire him. First, we cover the Western Conference: HOUSTON ROCKETS: James Harden led the Rockets to almost a victory over the World Champions in Game Seven of the Western Conference Finals, and they only lost the game by nine points. The Rockets were the favorites to win the Finals after Boston’s Kyrie Irving was ruled out for the season in the second half. They only lost Game Seven after their game plan fell apart: their shooting was undisciplined and their passes were infrequent. At that point Golden State capitalized and that led to lots of fast breaks which put the Warriors ahead. Without choking, Houston is the team teeing off against LeBron. Speaking of LeBron, possibly the greatest clutch player of all-time, if Harden and Trevor Ariza had the King playing at their sides, there’s no doubt that they would have dumped Curry and Kevin Durant into the waters between Oakland and San Francisco. And yes, they have the cap room. NEW ORLEANS PELICANS: Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday are a powerful duo and they took the powerful Warriors to an extra game in the Western Conference Semifinals. They’re always a threat in the West and they have a protected first round pick in the 2019 Draft. Not to mention that they have improving players and veterans to help lead, such as Nikola Mirotic, Demarcus Cousins, and Rajon Rondo. UTAH JAZZ: Donovan Mitchell is a godsend to Salt Lake City and he took Houston to five games in the second round. He’s also likely to be second in the voting for the Rookie of the Year behind Philly’s Simmons and just ahead of Boston’s Jayson Tatum. Alongside Rudy Gobert, you shouldn’t count the Jazz to leave a measure early. When Gordon Hayward made a sharp turn for Boston, he left the Jazz improvising with what they thought were flat notes. Thankfully, the rookie, Mitchell made sure they didn’t skip a beat, and brought the season to a forte fortissimo. Next year, assuming Houston doesn’t pick up LeBron, their team will start to feel the effects of aging on Trevor Ariza and injury on Chris Paul. Utah will breeze past them. In addition to that, Mitchell is playing better than a young Steph Curry, so alongside Gobert, Jae Crowder, and next year’s first round draft pick, Mitchell will lead the Jazz past Golden State. SAN ANTONIO SPURS: LeBron would play a huge factor, and they’d probably only have a shot until Manu Ginobili retires and until Kawhi Leonard leaves. That’s right, San Antonio wants to trade their star and he doesn’t particularly want to stay, anyway, so even if LeBron comes to that Texas team in particular, they’ll only be a flavor of the month. However, should LeBron end up in silver, that would make them a formidable foe for Curry’s Warriors. His and Kawhi’s defense would likely shut down the usually golden shooting display and it’s pretty clear how that offense would play (hint: it’s freaking awesome). LOS ANGELES LAKERS: Only if they had LeBron. Why? He’s LeBron. Enough said. Also, Kyle Kuzma provides the scoring from the outside that’s perfect to accompany a great inside scorer like LeBron. Also, Lonzo Ball’s passing puts him near the top in assists, so if LeBron joins him, the flow will be incredible. The Cavs needed a good passing game to move the ball outside so Kyle Korver and Kevin Love could pull off better shots and to move the ball inside so they hit LeBron while he’s open. But the only player on the team with the ability to do that was LeBron, and in basketball passing to yourself is a travel, so he couldn’t really do that unless he was tossing it off the backboard for a dunk from the free throw line. But, he dearly needs a good passer, and with one, he can beat the Warriors. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS: Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons almost led Philly to the Eastern Conference Finals. In half the games the Celtics took against Philly, Philly fought hard and brought the game down to the wire. And with injured players and an inexperienced, recovering Markelle Fultz, they should be dropping confetti from the ceiling for that accomplishment. Let’s just let that last part sit for a moment… Anyway, J.J. Redick also showed a stand up performance hitting the deep, contested threes that they need from him. Next season, Philly will prove to be near the top again, and if Boston stays injury prone, which they likely will, there will be a new king in the East and they’ll be full of brotherly love. LeBron is also looking at the Liberty Bell for a new home (not to mention that JuJu Smith-Schuster would love to put the King in Pennsylvania). Playing down low with Embiid on his side, receiving passes from Simmons, and dishing it out to Redick poses a great foe for Boston and after defeating the Celtics, the Warriors in the Finals. Curry, Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala know James wellm but with two stars and a nasty (good nasty) three point game beside him, LeBron is looking at bringing home his and the Sixers’ fourth NBA Championship. MILWAUKEE BUCKS: It’s not exactly as great as it sounds: teaming Lebron up with the Greek Freak in Giannis Antetokounmpo seems like a dream for Bucks’ fans, but they’re just to similar to be productive. They’re both strong bigman power forwards who usually would be found in the paint, so they need a Kyle Korver or Ray Allen around the three-point line. Unless, Malcolm Brogdon, Khris Middleton, or Eric Bledsoe is that guy, it’s tough to see them coming out of the first round of the playoffs. Then why are the Bucks included in this list? Because the possibility of LeBron. Frankly, every team in the National Basketball Association could be included because of the possibility of LeBron joining their squad, but the Bucks also have a future Hall of Famer with a wingspan longer than the distance from Cleveland to Milwaukee, as well as fair (not great, but fair) shooting and ball-handling. NEW YORK KNICKS: Kristaps Porzingis leads a team that’s like the Cincinnati Reds of basketball. The Knicks have a star player and a lineup with lots of potential, but they’re lacking one key piece. For the Reds, it’s pitching; for the Knicks, it’s a scorer. They’re not merely missing a scorer, Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Enes Kanter are all scoring 14+ points per game, but they’re missing an all-around scorer. Every great team has one; Warriors have Durant, Rockets have Harden, Celtics have Al Horford, Jazz have Mitchell, etc. The point is that either they need to groom Trey Burke, Frank Ntilikina, or Michael Beasley to score in the paint and shoot, or they can make a push to get LeBron who would be the addition to Porzingis they need. Although, frankly, getting LeBron is like the part of that episode of Friends where they enter the New York State Lottery. Chandler says that with his being out of a job and since he and Monica are going to start a family, they could really use $384 Million. The Knicks are in great need of scorer, so they could really use arguably the greatest player of all-time. BOSTON CELTICS: Assuming Irving and Hayward stay healthy, Scary Terry Rozier, Horford, Tatum, and Jaylen Brown lead a terrifying team that were eight points from being the kings of the east. They made it to Game Seven against LeBron without two of their stars, so you can only imagine how incredible they’ll be with their stars back. We’ll keep this one short because this has been a long article and it’s fairly obvious how great Boston will be next year. They’ll have the third pick in the pick in the draft, so that'll be another big, low-cost addition to the Championship-caliber team. In terms of acquiring LeBron James, Boston is very interested, as they should be. Of course, they'd need to make cap room, so they'd probably be giving up some lower lineup talent and one to two of their major stars, Irving, Hayward, or Horford. They can keep Brown, Rozier, and Tatum because, as of now, they have rather low-paying contracts. Imagine a lineup where Rozier brings the ball up with Tatum and Brown outside and Horford and LeBron in the paint. There's no lineup who could beat that in a best of seven series, no chance. Jesse A. Cook June 12, 2018 “Teams That Could Beat Golden State” 14-10, University of North Carolina, the Darkside, beat University of Pittsburgh, the En Sabah Nur, in the final game of the College National Ultimate Championships on May 28. UNC beat Pitt in a hard fought battle.
One of UNC’s handlers, Kai Marcus, started the game with a masterful fake, leading to an easy put in the end zone. Grant Lindsley of USAultimate.com said, “UNC opened with a display of patience as they methodically worked the disc down the field. Kai Marcus’ prior struggles seemed to have evaporated…” Darkside followed with another score to go up 2-0 on En Sabah Nur. Pitt’s offense started out with dynamic hucks, though their first couple fell, well, flat. Eventually, they started to work down the field with methodical precision and accuracy, tossing short throws to one another to break apart UNC’s new defense. Darkside began throwing zone defense against their Pennsylvanian opponents, which is smart on the surface, because a good zone forces more hucks and dangerous throws. Unfortunately for North Carolina, with short, smart, and effective passes, Pitt ended up in the end zone. Both teams had momentum heading into the game; UNC beat Oregon with a break on universe point and Pitt upset Carleton to make it to the final game. Their energy drove these teams early on and led to an unforgettable battle. Marcus put his name on the board once more, after a horizontal stack led to play right near the end zone. With the disc just outside of the goal, Marcus caught a short pass with an upline cut. 3-1 Darkside. UNC’s defense adjusted to Pitt’s success and the match seemed like it would end up rather one-sided until Noah Robinson connected with Kevin Tsui to cut Darkside’s score in half. 4-2 Darkside. While Pittsburgh was climbing back, their reckless deep throws slowed them once again as a turnover on a huck to Matt Hanna, turned into a turnover. Fortunately, their mistake was not a death sentence as they scored later on in the point. Yet another huck opened up the second half for Pitt, but this one ended up back in En Sabah Nur hands, leading to good position. Trailing 8-5 after the half, Pittsburgh was eager for a score, but zone defense from UNC held them back. Kai Marcus made his name heard once again with a put in the end zone resulting in a wild bid from Alex Davis in the back corner of the end zone for a score. Then, after another misplaced Pittsburgh huck, UNC took an 11-7 lead. Trying to spur a comeback, Pitt took more careful focus before hucking. One huck ended in a flying block from a UNC defender. Another huck finally resulted in a score, however. Soon, the horn was sounding and soft cap was met. This meant that the 12-8 game would be a game to 14, not 15. Eventually the score was 13-10 UNC and Pittsburgh was completely bereft energy. With an Elijah Long pass to Colin Smith, Darkside took the game and thus won the national championship. Jesse A. Cook June 6, 2018 “UNC Wins National Ultimate Championships” Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez form the unstoppable duo that puts the Boston Red Sox as the best team in baseball. Why have they been so great, though?
After a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park on May 2, KC manager Ned Yost said about Betts that he’s a, “Special player, special player… he's definitely up there with the upper-echelon players in this league. He's just fantastic, talented, athletic, quick hands, great power, good swing.” Betts hit three home runs in that game, so it’s pretty clear why he’s great. He has two three home run games this year, four in his career, and he’s second in all of baseball in homers with 17. As Yost said in his comments after the early season game that Betts’ swing is incredible: he starts by throwing his body forward, but he still keeps all his weight on his back foot (basically gearing up for a massive power swing). As he does this, he does a very Pete Rose-esque diagonal holding of the bat; he pulls his back elbow up and the barrel of the bat behind his head, and then he masterfully swings his hips around, with the bat carrying behind for a perfect swing. He also keeps his bat in the strike zone longer than most players, allowing him to put the ball on his bat for longer and that gives him more force and more power. Because he’s also an aggressive hitter, he rarely gets caught looking at strike three. His Pete Rose aggressiveness and swing, combined with his strength and stability (how he manages his weight and how he keeps his bat in the strike zone) leads to a player who has a higher batting average and a higher on-base percentage. He also is a great all-around hitter, as his he can easily tap the ball through the infield, but he just as easily hits for power (although he refuses to participate in a home run derby because he doesn’t want to risk messing up his swing, which I think is astute). As for Martinez, he’s a more typical power hitter, yet he shares Betts’ aggressiveness that helps prevent large strikeout numbers. This season, he’s only struck out 56 times, which is rather staggering for a power hitter; it’s very low for a power hitter. With the Tigers, Martinez had a low stance that’s more average oriented, but in his time in Arizona and his time in Boston, he, like neanderthals to homo sapiens, evolved into a more upright stance. He has a very different swing than Betts does, as Betts stays lower, brings his elbow up and his bat back much more, and he throws himself forward during his swing (mind that Betts still manages to keep his weight on his back foot). Adversely, Martinez brings his elbow up and his bat back only slightly, he’s very upright, and he barely moves forward at all during his swing. While his swing is very different from Betts, that doesn’t mean that he’s a worse hitter; in fact while Betts is number two in homers, J.D. is number one. Martinez is of a breed of batter that lifts the ball more and hits for distance. Being a power hitter, he likes to pull the ball (Betts is an all around hitter, so he’s very good at hitting to all fields), so when he doesn’t bring his elbow up or his bat back, that allows him to get his bat to the ball quicker and launch it down the left field line. Not moving forward allows him an easier means of keeping his weight on his back foot and gives him a swing more oriented at lofting balls into the stands, rather than hitting line drives into the stands, as Betts does. Staying tall during his swing does a similar thing as it lets him lift the ball (fun fact, of the 14 longest home runs in MLB history in the age of televised baseball, eight were hit by batters with upright stances). Obviously, Alex Cora has a lot to do with these stars’ success, for the changes in their stats from last year are staggering. Approximately one third of the way through the year, Betts and Martinez have inarguably good stats: Martinez has 18 home runs, is batting .317, has an on-base percentage of .377, has a slugging percentage of .654, has a 1.030 OPS, and has 47 RBIs. Betts has 17 home runs, is batting .359, has an on-base percentage of .437, has a slugging percentage of .750, has an OPS of 1.187, and has 37 RBIs. Betts is first in baseball in batting, Martinez is 13th, Martinez is first in homers, Betts is second, Martinez is first in RBIs, Betts is 18th, Betts is second in OBP, Martinez is 27th, Betts is first in slugging, Martinez is third, Betts is first in OPS, and Martinez is third. Last year, in the entire season, Martinez had 45 homers, batted .303, and had an OBP of .676. Last year, again, in the ENTIRE season, Betts had 24 homers, batted .264, had a .344 OBP, drove in 102 runs, had a .459 slugging, and a .803 OPS. Clearly, under new management, the stars’ stats have taken a major turn for the positive. Great swings and better management clearly have played a huge factor in the development of these definite all-stars. The new management has also fueled the team because, as Red Sox Nation has been guessing for the last four years, John Farrell is not a first-place-in-all-of-baseball manager. Betts and Martinez and their incredible swings and stats show baseball that the Red Sox will be a force to be reckoned with for the next decade or so. Not to mention that they have what is possibly the best farm system in baseball (I mean, it bred Mookie Betts, himself, for God’s sake!), but their constant production of future greats will also place an incredible team for years to come around these two and under Cora. Boston’s pitching is also key in their success as the play of Chris Sale, Rick Porcello, and David Price has greatly, greatly improved from last year, putting them as one of the best rotations in the league. Yes, Boston is in good hands and Betts and Martinez are absolutely instrumental in their success of the present and the future. Jesse A. Cook June 1, 2018 “Behind Betts And Martinez’ Incredible Year” |
AuthorJesse Cook: High school junior. Does play-by-play for the Sharon Varsity Eagles softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and football teams. Fanatic of the Boston and Cincinnati teams in the Big Four sports. Designs graphics of athletes, politicians, and musicians at Picsart.com. Archives
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