Opening Day is here – And so is a new normal.
Adolis García brought me back to where I once was: Eager for the Rangers' return.
Hello, old friend.
Or, is it old friend-made-new?
Today represents a beautiful day in many regards. I realize here at #SturmStack we have a different audience than FanGraphs, Baseball America, or even the Newberg Report.
As a subscriber to all three, I can tell you that I feel that there are times I might be a baseball casual here later in my life. Especially compared to the average customer of those three wonderful baseball destinations.
For instance, yesterday, I saw a headline on my phone that read “Reds star second baseman will miss considerable time after shoulder surgery.”
It was at that moment that I thought to myself, the Reds have a star second baseman?
Unless Joe Morgan or Brandon Phillips count, I have no idea who they are taking about.
So, yeah, I clicked the link. They got me.
Please forgive me, but I am positive I did not know much about Matt McClain before I started reading. It turns out he was fifth in NL rookie of the year voting in 2023, which I am not sure there was a whole lot worth noting below Corbin Carroll’s unanimous win and Kodai Senga finishing second. But, nevertheless, McClain seems like a talented kid and the Reds may have several prospects worth getting excited about, provided that sort of thing excites you.
The point is that “young me” would be sort of disappointed to learn that “old me” has lost track of the Cincinnati Reds infield.
To be fair, I probably also lost track of the Pittsburgh Pirates outfield, the Detroit Tigers bullpen, and I am not sure I can tell you much about the Chicago White Sox rotation now that Dylan Cease is in San Diego.
I try to be knowledgeable about as much as possible in this sports world. But I also need to be honest – baseball’s priority in my life faded badly as my facial hair has turned shades of white and grey.
Until the Rangers made me care again. Or maybe it was COVID. Or Air conditioned baseball. I can’t really recall the order of things. But there has been a baseball revival in my life and I would like to thank the Texas Rangers of this current form for making it important again.