So, there are at least 3 people that demanded this. Andrew and I started a blog as a companion for our podcast. Hope yall enjoy. https://medium.com/@breathingorangefire_71114
What in the world has happened to Jake Myers? Did he go to "hitting school" or something in the offseason? He is an excellent fielder. If he can continue to contribute at the plate, he becomes even better.
If you look at Jake’s numbers from 2021, once he was called up to the big leagues- some of his numbers are eerily similar to this season. Jake in 2021: War: 1.1 PA: 163 R: 22 H: 38 OPS: .761 Jake in 2025: War: 1.2 PA: 150 R: 20 H: 39 OPS: .757 Many forget how good Jake looked as a rookie. He was having a very solid season in 21’ before he hurt his shoulder in Chicago. It took him a while but it really appears his comfort level at the plate is back to where he was pre-injury.
One of the optimistic signs for Meyers, his primary cause for success is an awesome chase rate. It's led to the best walk rate and lowest K rate of his career thus far, he's simply swinging at better pitches. Probably related to that, he's letting the ball travel a hair more on his swing choices and pulling less than the last few seasons.
Since we're talking about how great, deservedly, Jake has been... Is there a 2nd better SS in the AL than Pena? Witt has to be the best, right?
Didn't know this until I just looked it up, here's your MLB SS WAR: 2.6 Bobby Witt Jr 2.4 Geraldo Perdomo (who?) 2.1 Jeremy Peña 1.7 Mookie Betts 1.7 Zach Neto
Oh. I thought you meant who is “better”’, not who has been better to start this season. I must’ve misread.
Okay, throw Gunnar in there somwhere (he's 1.2 btw) I guess we can discuss what "better" means some other day
See there ya go talking about just april and may 2025. I don’t need to discuss whether Seager’s .872 career OPS or Bichette’s .796 is better than Pena’s .703. Defensively may be another discussion but the offense isn’t close. Of course, Bichette is coming off an injury shortened season. Gunnar was .893 last year, his 2nd full season and had a 9.1 WAR. But yes, Pena is off to a nice start this year.
Yes indeed I was talking about *this* season, the bit earlier where I said, and I quote, "Since we're talking about how great, deservedly, Jake has been..." That might have tipped you off? Or maybe not? Jake is 5th in MLB in CF OPS
Yep, he is likely going to fall off some but it’s possible he can end the season as a 4 win, 115 wRC+ player. He has clearly made an adjustment. Meyers, Pena, and Paredes are on pace to combine for 15 fwar and none of their numbers look like they’re based on luck. If those guys keep playing that well and Yordan comes back at full strength, this offense is badass even if Altuve, Yainer, and Walker don’t fully meet expectations (although they will need to be better than 20% below league average).
