A change of the guard is inevitable in all professions; walks of life and sports are no exception. Even our perennial Cy Young favorites from both leagues, Paul Skenes (NL) and Tarik Skubal (AL), have appeared at least human, and not in any way sitting atop the list of odds-on faves to take the award this year. It is smashing to see the game embrace new, fresh faces, such as Milwaukee’s Jacob Mizerowski (pictured below), or Davis Martin, of the White Sox, as the carriers of the MLB torch.
But for every JJ. Wetherholdt, Kevin McGonigle, and Cam Schlitter, there is a Kyle Tucker, an Alex Bregman, and a Gerrit Cole who can’t seem to get things going just yet. Shoutout to Kyle Schwarber, Matt Olson, and Bryce Harper, who all appear to be sticking to form as three of the most prolific power hitters of their era.
No More Excuses
The rest of the leaders, though, appear to suggest that a major shift in baseball’s elite talent is now underway. With such an influx of young talent, it might not be too bold to suggest that these aforementioned “superstars” will need to pull up their stirrups and start producing soon, or they could become expendable, a thought that just one season ago was probably unfathomable.
Nowadays, memories, like attention spans, are short, and there is just not the shelf life that there used to be for an egotistical, overpaid MLB star who isn’t meeting even the baseline expectation in terms of statistical output.
