Another sign that normalcy might be on the horizon came this week with the start of Spring Training baseball action. Even though teams are looking at reduced capacity as we ease back into things, all signs are pointing to a complete 162-game season this time around. Once the regular season starts, there’ll be five key story lines that’ll be worth watching:
- Los Angeles Dodgers –It’s been two decades since we’ve seen a repeat champion. The last time was the when the New York Yankees hit the trifecta between 1998 and 2000. Most of their key position players are back, and they’ve added a serious gun to their pitching rotation in Trevor Bauer. On-paper, they’re the team to beat.
- San Diego Padres –During last year’s shortened season, the Padres posted a .617 winning percentage. During the off-season, they signed Fernando Tatis, Jr. to a mega-deal worth $340-million, and added a trio of formidable pitchers –Blake Snell, Yu Darvish & Joe Musgrove– all with the goal of ruining the Dodgers’ fun.
- American League –The American League is a much harder league to predict. You’ve got the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays & Toronto Blue Jays, making the NL East an odds-on favorite to produce a World Series contender. Then, you’ve got the Chicago White Sox & Minnesota Twins in the Central, and the Houston Astros in the West – even with the loss of George Springer to the Blue Jays.
- The New Ball– To keep more balls in the yard, MLB opted to change the baseball. New “deadened” balls will theoretically see balls that would’ve travelled 375-feet last season go “one or two feet shorter” now. We’ll see how much of an impact it has, as the season progresses.
- Fans– They’re what makes a “home-field advantage possible,” and they’re back. However, the number of fans allowed is contingent on local restrictions, and those numbers could change as vaccinations are more widely distributed.
Source:Men’s Journal