There is great excitement for Major League Baseball at the moment, as the start of the season is one of the early signs of spring. The regular season is 20 days away. Here are five players in the American League who will be hoping for a better season in 2020 than what they were able to put together last year.
5) Martin Perez–Boston Red Sox–The native of Guanare, Venezuela signed a one year contract with the Boston Red Sox on December 19 worth $6 million. Slated to be the third man in the Red Sox pitching rotation, Perez will be expected to provide Boston some quality innings after the team lost starting pitcher David Price in the trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Perez will be expected to improve on his poor season of 2019 however as he had an earned run average of 5.12 and an ugly WHIP of 1.52.
4) Wade LeBlanc–Baltimore Orioles–The native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, signed a minor league contract with the Orioles on January 28. Due to the fact Baltimore has a poor pitching staff overall, LeBlanc is expected to crack Baltimore’s starting rotation despite having an earned run average of 5.71 last season with the Seattle Mariners.
3) Jordan Zimmermann–Detroit Tigers–I addressed the fact in a previous blog that the entire Detroit Tigers pitching staff last season was horrendous. One of those pitchers was Jordan Zimmermann of Auburndale, Wisconsin, who had a record of only one win and 13 losses in 2019 with an earned run average of 6.91. He will be once again part of the Tigers mix this season.
2) Travis Shaw–Toronto Blue Jays–On December 30, the Toronto Blue Jays signed Travis Shaw to a one year contract worth $4 million from the Milwaukee Brewers. In 230 at bats in 2019, Shaw only batted .157 with even home runs and 36 runs batted in. Toronto is counting on a batting average of about 100 points higher and definitely more power from the corner infield position.
1) Chris Davis–Baltimore Orioles–One needs to wonder how long the Orioles are going to stay patient with Chris Davis. The first baseman is a fraction of his former self, who led Major League Baseball in home runs in 2013 and again in 2015. Davis only hit .168 in 2018 and .179 in 2019. Being so below the Mendoza Line is simply not good enough.
