Witt Jr. Ready for Majors - Week of 4/4/2022
Bobby Witt Jr. is raking in Spring Training, plus NCAA basketball championships
Hello everyone and a warm welcome back to Three Up, Three Down! I hope you enjoyed both Final Fours as much as I did. A lot happened this weekend in sports, so let’s not waste any more time and get into it.
1. Bobby Witt Jr. Is Ready
With Spring Training wrapping up on Wednesday, the breakout performances of the exhibition season have nearly been finalized. No one has jumped out to me more this spring than the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. The second overall selection in the 2019 draft by Kansas City has been on fire over the past two weeks, slashing .406/.441/.781 in 12 spring games through Monday. In addition to that line, Witt has added 3 homers, 11 runs scored, 8 RBI, and only 3 strikeouts.
After much speculation, it was finally confirmed on Tuesday that Witt will start the season with the big league club. After many seasons of MLB teams keeping players in the minors to start the season in order to extend their service time, it’s refreshing to see the Royals buck that trend and start Witt at the major league level. Not to mention, there will definitely be more people in the seats at Kauffman Stadium for opening weekend to see the top prospect, a bonus for K.C.
Witt’s player profile is that of a middle infielder with plus power and speed, with defense being his “weakest” area. Strikeouts had been an issue in AA, with Witt going down on strikes 24% of the time there, but that fell to 22.5% at AAA. With that rate being at 8% for Spring Training (albeit a tiny sample size), there’s hope he can be a .290 or above hitter at the MLB level. While his natural position is shortstop, the presence of Adalberto Mondesi and Nicky Lopez up the middle for the Royals has shifted him to third base for the time being. Of course, it’s probably only a matter of time before Mondesi gets injured, so don’t be surprised to see Witt at short for Kansas City this summer.
There’s very little not to like about the 21-year-old. The son of a longtime MLB starting pitcher, he has the family pedigree that other stars such as Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. possess. MLB Pipeline has him ranked as the #1 prospect in the sport, ahead of the #1 pick of his draft, Adley Rutschman. With Kansas City not expected to contend, they don’t really have a choice but to run him out there for as many games as possible. All the better for baseball fans like myself, who can’t wait to see how he perform as he makes his major league debut on Thursday against Shane Bieber and the Guardians.
2. NCAA Basketball Champions Crowned
This past weekend was the end of college sport’s grasp on the national sports scene until the College World Series with the culmination of the men’s and women’s Final Fours. On Sunday, South Carolina blew by UConn for the women’s title, while Kansas made a historic comeback on Monday night against North Carolina to win their fourth title. Each game was much different from the other, and entertaining in their own way.
First, the Gamecocks simply dominated UConn at the Target Center on Sunday by winning the battle on the glass. A whopping 49-24 rebound margin, including 21-6 offensive rebounds, in favor of South Carolina was really the difference in the game. As Kevin Borseth would say, the whole game came down to offensive rebounds. South Carolina jumped ahead 13-2 early and never looked back, eventually winning by a 64-49 margin.
While national player of the year Aliyah Boston had just 11 points for S.C., she pulled down 16 rebounds and had a game-high 2 blocks. Destanni Henderson had an efficient 26 points (9/20 shooting) for the Gamecocks, and Paige Bueckers was just 6/13 from the floor for the Huskies as she came up short in her quest for winning a national title in her hometown. Dawn Staley got her second championship as a coach, and will have a good chance to repeat next season. It was odd to see UConn as an underdog in the Final Four, but there’s no doubt Geno Auriemma will be back with a great recruiting class next season.
Meanwhile, on the men’s side, Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks overcame a 16-point deficit to win their first title since the 2008 team that came back against Memphis. North Carolina’s lack of depth finally caught up to them in the championship game, as Brady Manek and Armando Bacot fought foul trouble and injuries throughout the game with no one on the bench to give them a respite. Meanwhile, Caleb Love’s hot shooting finally cooled off for the Tar Heels, as he shot just 5/24 from the field and 1/8 from three. It was a valiant effort from UNC, but in the end they showed why they were an 8 seed for the tournament.
On the other side, Kansas played beautifully in the second half, forcing turnovers and bad shots defensively and getting out in transition to put the pressure on Carolina. It was one of those rare comebacks that wasn’t fueled by three point shooting, as KU only took 17 for the game. It was also a balanced attack, with Jalen Wilson and David McCormack leading the way with 15 points, plus 14 from Remy Martin and 12 each from Christian Braun and Ochai Agbaji.
After Love’s desperation three fell short at the buzzer, not only was Kansas the champion, the college basketball season came to an end. As one of my favorite sports to follow, I’m sad to see it go, but I thought this year’s tournament was entertaining overall. St. Peter’s was a great story, three 1-seeds failed to make the Elite Eight, and there were several close games to the end (although there were no buzzer beaters). There’s a reason the NCAA tournament is one of the biggest sporting events in America each year, and this year’s edition was a great example as to why. My early prediction for next season is that UCLA wins the title, if they return their core that’s looking for a third go at a championship.
3. Liverpool Keeps Pressure On Man City
On Saturday, Liverpool beat Watford 2-0 on their home turf at Anfield to win their 10th straight Premier League game and remain only 1 point behind the league leaders, Manchester City. Goals from Diogo Jota and Fabinho gave the Reds the win over their 18th-placed opponents. While Man City had a commanding league on the Premier League title race for much of the season, all of a sudden Liverpool is hot on their tail ahead of a massive meeting next Sunday in Manchester.
What’s been impressive about this streak from Liverpool is their ability to win despite a poor run of form for Mo Salah, the owner of a league-leading 20 goals for the season. Salah has just 4 goals over the 10-game winning streak, while adding 1 assist. 3 of those goals have come against two of the worst defensive teams in the league in Norwich and Leeds United, so the jury is out on whether he can return to his peak performance before Liverpool meet City and Manchester United in the next two weeks.
With Salah struggling, Liverpool’s defense has been their key to victory. They’ve kept 8 clean sheets (shutouts) in their last 10, only conceding 2 total goals. Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold have been the stars of Liverpool’s defense the entire season, and they’ve also combined for 8 assists in the last 10 matches. That defense will have to be sharp against Manchester City next Sunday in a game that may very well decide the Premier League champion for 2021-22.
What I’m Watching This Week
Masters Tournament, Thursday-Sunday
MLB Opening Day, Thursday
Liverpool vs Manchester City, Sunday
Suns vs Jazz, Friday
Weekly Trivia
LAST WEEK
Q: Despite a lockout, MLB will be having a full schedule of 162 games for 2022. Prior to 2020’s pandemic induced 60-game schedule, in what year was the last MLB season that was shortened? Bonus points for how many games were played.
A: 1995. 144 games were played due to the strike of 1994 not being resolved until April 2 of ‘95.
THIS WEEK
Q: Since the men’s NCAA tournament expanded in 1985, 4 teams have been ranked at #1 in the polls for the entire season (from preseason to the start of the tournament). Which teams were they?
A: Next week!
I really enjoyed watching UNC this tournament, and I really grew to enjoy Coach Davis' style. Not only from an X's and O's standpoint, but his love and passion for his players and the game is palpable. UNC isn't going anywhere, especially thanks to his leadership.
Still not sure how much of an impact Witt will have right away in the win column, as the Royals still have lots of building to do around him