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A day later than usual because we were traveling and distraught from watching the #Mets lose their 11th straight. News of the week includes the sudden passing of #Angels great Garret Anderson - so sad. #Dodgers Edwin Diaz to undergo surgery and will miss at least half the season.

Yordan Alvarez leads #MLB with 10 HRs and #Yankees Aaron Judge is right behind with 9. Who are the players with the highest bat speed in baseball? Which is more important to OPS - on-base average or slugging? We answer all in this fast-paced quick hitting episode!

Thanks again to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music. Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends to check us out!

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Pitcher injuries are mounting especially if you wear an Astros uniform. We didn't mention the passing of Davey Lopes which was our mistake. Lopes stole 552 bases and was a member of the Dodgers infield for 10 years.

No teams have made much noise aside from the #dodgers. #pirates rookie Konnor Griffin got paid inking a 9-year $130M contract. #yankees are succeeding despite getting less than expected from reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge as well as being swept by the #Rats.

Do you know who invented the split-fingered fastball? It's made a resurgence and we talk about the history of the pitch, why it fell out of favor, and why it's back better than ever!

Shout out to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music. Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends to check us out!

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When #MLB started measuring players in order to more fairly deploy the ABS Challenge system, MLB players who had not been measured for years came up tinier! Why are they shrinking?

The season is already 5% gone and by the end of the week will be 10% in the rear view mirror! Can 162 games go by quickly? We discuss Jo Adell's amazing virtuoso defensive performance on April 4th. Any surprises in where teams are in the standings? We talk about that too!

The topic of the week is WRC+ - Weighted Runs Created Plus. It's cooler than it looks we promise!

Shout out to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music. Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends to check us out!

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We forgot to include our playoff picks last week when we picked the order of finish for each #MLB division. So we do that as well as pick the major award winners - Cy Young, MVP, Rookie-of-the-Year and Manager of the Year. We also cover the first three games of the 2026 season - rookies have been front and center!

Shout out to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music. Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends to check us out!

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We kick off our 7th season of baseball podcasts with this season seven premiere! 342 episodes in the can is something we never expected to do. As we do at the beginning of every MLB season we review all 30 teams and their chances in the 2026 season which starts this week. A special thanks to our producer - Gordon's mom and Mark's wife Michele who has had to listen to and review all of them!

We will do our award picks next week. Thanks for six great seasons and we are so excited about season 7!

Shout out to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music. Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends!

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We recorded this episode just before Team Venezuela was about to play Team Italy. Team Italy is really a bunch of Americans masquerading as Italians with a real Italian or two on the roster. While the Italians beat the USA 8-6 in pool play, the USA will relish the chance to avenge that defeat. Or they will have to play a better team in Venezuela. But either way the USA is primed to take home the 2026 WBC championship!

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends!

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Late game pitching in the WBC is the issue and most teams don't have enough. The best teams can be held down for awhile but eventually the cream rises to the top. USA, Dominican Republic, and Japan all have the firepower to exhaust the bullpens of good teams much less WBC also-rans.

Highlights of the first weekend of games were many and the enthusiasm and atmosphere at the WBC has been amazing. We talked about relegation which happens to the fifth place team in each pool. Those teams will have to play-in to reach the next WBC which is scheduled for 2029.

How about future Hall-of-Famers playing in the WBC and those that will be playing in #MLB in 2026 are plentiful and we discuss the tiers of those that are guaranteed all the way down to those that need to do more.

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends!

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There will not be any Automatic Balls and Strikes called in the World Baseball Classic that begins this week at four sites around the globe. 16 teams are vying for the title currently held by two-time defending champ Japan.

ABS is alive and well (so far) in #MLB spring training so far. Umpires get things wrong but the calls are so close you can understand why and how. Will this lead to full robot umps eventually? We wondered about that and gave some thoughts.

We also discuss if another epic WBC showdown is in the cards like it was to end the 2023 WBC when Shohei Ohtani struck out then-teammate Mike Trout. That can't happen this year but we peek at a what could be a few delicious and delightful potential encounters between MLB teammates who are current rivals.

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends!

www.almostcooperstown.com