Athlon Sports Preseason Sports Magazine's provide in-depth analysis of the upcoming seasons and events. Each preview includes great feature stories, team previews, depth charts, predictions, schedules and more.
It was a month before my high school graduation in May 1989, and I had made the decision to attend Vanderbilt University. the next day at school, I tore down an 8x11 photo of Alabama linebacker Keith McCants from my locker and replaced it with DeMond Winston from Vanderbilt. As the son of an Alabama graduate, I grew up a die-hard fan of the Crimson Tide. But I was headed to another SEC school, so it was time to switch my allegiance, and I was eager to introduce my friends at New Providence High School to Winston, the best player on what was a bad Vanderbilt team. The photos were from the previous year’s Athlon Sports Southeastern Football preview magazine. We lived in New Jersey, but my father, who traveled…
MARCH March 24: Pitcher Cole Hamels sinks his first hole-in-one on the links. March 25: Hamels homers in a spring training game off former AL Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello. March 28: The eventual 96-win Rays’ Opening Day lineup includes only one player (Kevin Kiermaier) who started the lidlifter in their 90-win 2018. March 28: The first four and the seventh hitters in the Mets’ Opening Day batting order have names that end in “o.” March 30: Russell Martin is the first position player since at least 1925 to pitch a 1-2-3 ninth inning in a team win. March 30: Yu “Pace of Play” Darvish throws 57 pitches (six walks) before there is fair contact. APRIL April 1: Twenty-two innings into their season, Cincinnati garners its first hit by…
A TEAM (Semi-Conventional Edition) • Fielded two sons of Hall of Famers (Blue Jays; Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Cavan Biggio). • That was the defending World Series champ allowed as many as 12 runs in its opening game (Red Sox). • Lost seven of its first 10 games despite scoring more than 70 runs (Cubs). • Fanned four times in an extra inning in which it manufactured the winning run (Yankees). • Was shut out on nine occasions before recording its 11th victory (Marlins). • Won a nine-inning game in which three of its players struck out at least four times (Royals). • Hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs for a second time in franchise history (Nationals). • Won three consecutive contests with a walk-off homer from different rookies (Dodgers: Matt Beaty,…
1. Yankees get their man… finally The Yankees always saw greatness in Gerrit Cole, but it took them three tries to secure him. They drafted Cole in the first round in 2008, but Cole chose UCLA. They tried to trade for him about a decade later, but Cole’s team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, chose an offer from the Houston Astros. Finally, at the Winter Meetings in December, the Yankees snagged Cole the best way they knew how: with a mountain of cash no other suitor could rival. The Yankees lavished a nine-year, $324 million contract on Cole, who last season went 20–5 with a 2.50 ERA and 326 strikeouts — a staggering 78 more than any Yankees pitcher has ever recorded in a season. Cole also won four of his five postseason…
All told, Bryce Harper had a fine first season in the red pinstripes of the Philadelphia Phillies. Though the team fell far short of the goals it set for itself after inking the erstwhile Nationals star to a 13-year deal worth $330 million, Harper himself had a .372 on-base percentage and cracked 35 home runs. Only one thing was missing: the former NL MVP, who came into the season with a .279 career batting average, hit just .260 and struck out a career-high 178 times. Harper faced shifted defenses 60 percent of the time, easily the highest rate of his career, and it psyched him out. In trying to hit around the shift, Harper got himself into bad habits and an unhealthy approach. Since the start of 2018, Harper has…
J.J. Picollo didn’t need to consult preview publications or analytics websites to know that things weren’t going to be so great for the Royals in 2011 or ’12. the franchise had committed to playing some young talent, and that meant wins weren’t going to be plentiful. KC believed Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez and Eric Hosmer were going to be good — maybe even great — someday, but they needed time to develop, and that meant Kansas City fans would have to wait for their club to get good. The Royals won just 71 games in ’11 and “improved” to 72 the following season. Things were going just the way management figured. It might have been tough to watch a club finish 20 games below .500, but when you’re playing in…
