Sports Illustrated - USA (2020 - Spring)

345

TWITTER TELLS ALL

Houston’s sign-stealing scandal

consumed the offseason, and it was

all anyone wanted to discuss when

teams reported to spring training.

Most players slammed the Astros for

their cheating—Dodgers outfielder

Cody Bellinger said Houston second

baseman José Altuve “stole” the ’

AL MVP from Yankees outfielder

Aaron Judge—while others opted to

use their imagination. Yankees out-

fielder Giancarlo Stanton proclaimed

he would have hit 80 homers in ’17 if

he knew what pitches were coming,

21 more than he actually blasted. Even

Angels outfielder Mike Trout, typi-

cally reserved with reporters, allowed,

“it would be pretty fun” to hit while

knowing the next pitch. Now that is an

alternate universe we’d like to live in.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW

As super-prospects reach the majors

sooner and succeed quicker—think

Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., 22

(page 34), or Nationals outfielder

Juan Soto, 21—the hype surrounding

the game’s young players has never

been bigger. So who’s next? After a

sprinkling of action in ’19, this year

will be the rookie season for Dodgers

infielder Gavin Lux, 22, A’s lefthander

Jesús Luzardo, 22, and Rockies in-

fielder Brendan Rodgers, 23. Star

minor leaguers such as 22-year-old

White Sox outfielder Luis Robert, who

signed a six-year, $50 million deal in

January, and 20-year-old Angels out-

fielder Jo Adell, the club’s best prospect

since Trout, should debut this season.

Here’s to a heated race for Rookie of

the Year.

NEW YEAR, NEW RULES

Commissioner Rob Manfred’s never-

ending battle to improve pace of play

earned a small victory as pitchers,

starting in ’20, cannot exit the game

until they face three batters or record

the third out of an inning. Just how

small of a victory is this? SI’s Tom

Verducci determined the rule elimi-

nates one mid-inning pitching change

every three to four games, shortening

games by an average of 44 seconds.

Other rule changes this season don’t

toy with in-game strategy: Roster size

increases from 25 to 26 (September

rosters max out at 28), injured list

stints for pitchers must last at least

15 days (up from 10) and teams must

designate the pitchers on their roster

(up to 13) to, in theory, curb the use

of position-player pitching.

TOM VERDUCCI’S

2020 MLB

AWARD PICKS

NL CY YOUNG

WALKER

BUEHLER

SP Dodgers

NL MVP

JUAN SOTO

LF Nationals

AL MVP

MIKE TROUT

CF Angels

JAM

IE (^) S
QU
IRE
/GE
TTY
(^) IM
AGE
S (^) (
TRO
UT)
; (^) RO
B (^) C
AR
R/G
ET
TY
IMA
GES
(^) (SO
TO
);
RO
BER
T (^) B
ECK
(^) (B
UEH
LER
); (^) J
ASO
N (^) M
ILL
ER/
GE
TTY
(^) IM
AGE
S (^) (B
IEB
ER)
MLB PREVIEW 2020