Chicago or Colorado: Which Team Has Had The Better Players So Far?

Colorado Rockies Logo
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Chicago White Sox
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The MLB season may be barely a month in, but it is never too early to evaluate the performances of teams. While neither the Chicago White Sox or the Colorado Rockies are leading their divisions, both have been playing better then expected and have received some fantastic play from their players. Both teams have players that fill up the league's leader board in both of their leagues and in major league baseball overall. Both are ranked in the top three in hits, runs, RBIs, doubles, extra base hits, total bases, weighted runs created plus, batting average, batting average on balls in play, slugging percentage, OPS. While looking at league leaders, I asked the question: which team has had the better players so far? 

Catcher: Tyler Flowers vs. Wilin Rosario

Tyler Flowers
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Wilin Rosario
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Flowers has been on a tear to start the year. The catcher is hitting .359, has an on-base percentage of , and OPS+ of 127, and a . He is also thrown out 35% of the runner trying to steal against him. Rosario has gotten off to a decent start. He is hitting just under .250, but his on-base percentage is about .276, which is abysmal. He  needs to get that up at least 50 points. He is also throwing out runner at a 33% clip. Flowers has had a monster start to the season and has been better then Rosario without a doubt. 

First Base: Jose Abreu vs. Justin Morneau

Jose Abreu
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Justin Morneau
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Abreu has been off to a monster start so far. The rookie from Cuba has already hit ten home runs (most by a rookie in the month of April ever) 32 RBIs (also most by a rookie in April) ,and is making a name for himself in the big leagues. Morneau has been on a tear this April with a slash line of .357/.381/.643. This is one of the toughest ones to call. Both players have about the same rWAR, roWAR, and rdWAR. In the end, I say the rookie wins this matchup because of the roll he has been on and the excitement he has brought to the south side of the Windy City.

Second Base: Marcus Semien vs. DJ LeMahieu

Marcus Semien
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DJ LeMahieu
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LeMahieu is playing like an above average second baseman, while Beckham has been having a lot of trouble. LeMahieu is hitting .305 with an on-base percentage of .363. He is not hitting for much power, but he is getting the ball in play. Semien has been struggling at the plate hitting only .233 with a .294 on-base percentage and a .379 slugging percentage. Not only that, he is tied for the most outs created by any player in either league so far. The advantage is to LeMahieu for being the better player.

Shortstop: Alexei Ramirez vs. Troy Tulowitzki

Alexei Ramirez
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Troy Tulowitzki
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The Rockies have the best player in the league and a top ten player in the league. Troy Tulowitzki has been outstanding so far. Tulowitzki is the current league leader in rWAR  (3.0), on-base percentage (.486), slugging percentage (.753), OPS+ (223), runs created (33), and offensive win percentage (.916). Not only that, Tulowitzki has been impermeable at shortstop. While Ramirez is the leader in the AL in batting and has played great, he is not even in the same area code of Tulowitzki right now. 

Third Base: Conor Gilliapse vs. Nolan Arenado

Nolan Arenado
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Conor Gilliapse
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Conor Gillapse has been playing well at third. He is hitting over .300, but was just recently placed on the DL with a bruised hand. Arenado has been playing fine. He is not on a complete tear, but he is also hitting over .300, but needs to draw more walks. Both of these guys are playing well and their numbers are very similar. This position is a push. You can pick either one as the better player so far and your point can be proven. 

Left Field: Alejandro De Aza vs. Carlos Gonzalez

Carlos Gonzalez
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Alejandro De Aza
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At first glance, this matchup would seem to be easily won by Carlos Gonzalez just based on past performance. However, Gonzalez comes away with the victory due to the fact De Aza has played awful during the first month of the season. De Aza is hitting .191 and getting on base at a percentage of .255. Gonzalez is not doing much better (His slash line is .240/.288/.433), but at least he is giving the Rockies something at the plate.

Center Field: Adam Eaton vs. Charlie Blackmon

Adam Eaton
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Charlie Blackmon
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No one has been an all-around better player the Tulowitzki so far. His teammate, Charlie Blackmon, however, has been close.Blackmon first appeared with the Rockies in 2011 and was splitting time between the big league club and Colorado Springs, the Rockies Triple-A affiliate until he won the starting centerfield and leadoff spot this year. He has proved that the Rockies made the right choice with his play. He currently lead the league in batting average and is runner up or in the top five in many other categories, including OPS, rWAR, fWAR, Adjusted OPS, runs and created. He has also only struck out seven times. Eaton at this point cannot compare to Blackmon.

Right Field: Dayan Viciedo vs. Michael Cuddyer

Dayan Viciedo
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Michael Cuddyer
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Viciedo has started doing something he has never done since coming up to the majors in 2010 and that is hit for average. In his first four season, he hit .264 with a .306 on-base percentage. This year, Viciedo is hitting .341 with a .406 on-base percentage and a .506 slugging percentage. Cuddyer was on the DL for part of the season, but he is back and is also playing well. The 2013 NL Batting Champ is hitting .317, has an on-base percentage of .373 and a .533 slugging percentage. This is a really tough matchup to pick. It's a push, but I am leaning towards Viciedo.

Bench/DH: Chicago (Gordon Beckham, Jordan Danks, Adam Dunn, Leury Garcia, Paul Konerko, Adrian Nieto) vs. Colorado (Brandon Barnes, Charlie Culberson, Corey Dickerson, Jordan Pacheco, Josh Rutledge, Drew Stubbs)

Adam Dunn
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Brandon Barnes
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Adam Dunn is the White Sox's DH. Dunn has never been a guy to hit for average, but if he continues to .280, his current batting average, he would have his best batting average of all-time. This would also be the same for his on-base percentage (currently .409) and OPS+ (currently 154). Gordon Beckham was injured for most of the first month of the season, but now that he is back, he has taken over the starting second base spot. Brandon Barnes has been off to a hot start with .333 batting average and .410 on-base percentage. Dickerson has also been off to a hot start while starting on the outfield while Michael Cuddyer is on the DL. He has an OPS of .941 and an OPS+ of 145. The bench advantage goes to the Rockies, who have players on their bench who are playing better then their regular starters.

Ace Starting Pitcher: Chris Sale vs. Jorge De La Rosa

Chris Sale
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Jorge De La Rosa
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Sale has been tremendous. He's 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA, 0.841 WHIP, 2.32 FIP, and a 190 ERA+. That WHIP immediately jumps of the screen at me and says he has been impossible to hit. There is just one problem with Sale; He is currently on the DL and has been since the 18th of April. De La Rosa has been mediocre so far. He has a 2-3 record, 5.23 ERA, 4.51 FIP, and 79 ERA+. Even with the injury, the win goes to Sale due to his sheer dominance and the lack-luster start for De La Rosa.

Rest of Starting Rotation: Chicago (John Danks, Felipe Paulino, Jose Quintana, Andre Reizino) vs. Colorado (Tyler Chatwood, Jordan Lyles, Franklin Morales, Juan Nicasio)

Jordan Lyles
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Jose Quintana
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Jordan Lyles has been the best starter for Colorado so far, with a 3-0 record, 2.93 ERA, 1.109 WHIP, 3.54 FIP, and 141 ERA+. Everyone else has been decent or below average. Jose Quintana and John Danks have been good for the White Sox. Quintana is 1-2 with a 1.333 WHIP and a 8.0 strikeouts per nine innings ratio. John Danks has been 2-1 and with an ERA of 3.48 and a WHIP of 1.419. Pauilno has struggled in his starts, while Rienzo has been mediocre. While neither rotation is in the top part of the league, the White Sox is better then Colorado's through April. 

Closer: Matt Lindstrom vs. LaTory Hawkins

Matt Lindstrom
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LaTroy Hawkins
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Lindstrom has not had as many opportunities to get the save in as many games as Hawkins (Lindstorm has three saves compared to Hawkins nine), but both have been effective pitchers. Hawkins, however, has been better and by a lot. He has a better ERA (2.38 to 3.75), WHIP (1.059 to 1.583), FIP (3.91 to 4.70), and ERA+ (177 to 119), among other things. The most telling stat for me is Lindstrom's strikeouts per walk is 1.00. That needs to improve for him to keep pitching well.

Bullpen: Chicago (Ronald Belisario, Maikel Cleto, Scott Downs, Zach Putnam, Jake Petricka, Daniel Webb) vs. Colorado (Matt Belisle, Rex Brothers, Tommy Kahnle, Boone Logan, Adam Ottavino)

Jake Petricka
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Adam Ottavino
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Adam Ottavino has been excellent coming out of the pen. His numbers are unbelievable. He has a 0.73 ERA, 0.811 WHIP, 1.17 FIP, and a 576 ERA+. It is very unlikely that he keeps up those numbers for the rest of the year, but if he can keep pitching well, he should be an All-Star and possible breakout star. He may even overtake Hawkins for the closer role. Rex Brothers has also been pitching well out of the Colorado pen. Jake Petricka has been very good out of the pen for Chicago, as has Zach Putnam and Daniel Webb. The Rockies have had the best bullpen so far, mostly because they Ottavino.

Winner: 

While both teams have great players, so far Colorado has had the better players. Almost all of their position players are hitting over .300. It seems like everyone on the Rockies is on a hot streak. Even though their pitching is not great, having a guy who is as dominant as Ottavino really helps. The team from the Mile High City has a lot of players playing great baseball. 
Note: Stats are as of the morning of 4/30

Lacrosse Weekend: NLL, MLL, and College

National Lacrosse League's Regular Season Finales

The National Lacrosse League's regular season ended on Saturday as final seeding for the playoffs were set. The Edmonton Rush, the number one team in the league, defeated the Vancouver Stealth 10-5 to end the season with a 16-2 record. The Rush, who started the season 14-0, earned a first round bye and home court advantage throughout the Champion's Cup playoffs. 

The Rush will face the winner of the first round matchup between the Calgary Roughnecks and the Colorado Mammoth. Roughnecks finished the season with a 14-8 victory over Vancouver, while the Mammoth had a come-from-behind win over the Philadelphia Wings in Philly. This match-up will be played in Calgary because the Roughnecks has the better record.

Cody Jamieson
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The best team in the East is the current holder of the Champion's Cup, the Rochester Knighthawks. The Knighthawks, led by the league leader in points Cody Jamieson, defeated the Buffalo Bandits 16-14 in front of 19,070 fans in Buffalo on Saturday. The 19,070 fans is tied for the most fans at a regular season game. With the win, the Knighthawks finish the season 14-4 and have won nine of their last ten games. While the Knighthawks have been on fire since the beginning of March, the Bandits have gone cold. They have lost their final eight games to end the season 8-10 and now have to travel to Toronto for their first round matchup with the Rock. The Rock won their final regular season game 8-6 against the Minnesota Swarm. 

Major League Lacrosse's FaceOff Weekend

Rob Pannell
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Eight of the MLL's ten teams played a game during opening weekend, called FaceOff Weekend. The new team to the league, the Florida Launch, faced off with the Denver Outlaws at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida. The first half was all Outlaws and they led 11-1 at half time. The Launch had a mini comeback in the second half, but still lost 14-10. With the win, the Outlaws' regular season winning streak was extended to 21 games. The last time they lost a game in the regular season was in July of 2012. Yet, Denver has never won a MLL Championship. The Ohio Machine defeat the Charlotte Hounds 15-8 in Charlotte. Machine netminder Scott Rodgers had 23 saves in the win. The defending champion Chesapeake Bayhawks lost to the Boston Cannons 15-9. Kevin Buchanan scored seven goals for the Cannons. In the final game of the weekend, the New York Lizards defeated the Rochester Rattlers 18-15. Rob Pannell scored six goals for the Lizards, five of them unassisted. 

ACC Tournament Final

Matt Kavanagh
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The Syracuse Orange (#4 in the Inside Lacrosse Poll/#4 in the Coaches Poll) went head-to-head with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (#9/#9) in the ACC Tournament Final. This is both school first season in the ACC. In the semi-finals, #3 seeded Syracuse defeated #2 seeded Duke 16-15 in a rematch of last year's National Championship, which the Blue Devils won. Billy Ward scored the game-tying goal for the Orange with fifteen seconds left and Dylan Donahue followed that up with a goal with a second left to win it for the Orange. Notre Dame, seeded fourth in the tournament, also scored a game winning goal in the closing seconds. Matt Kavanagh scored the game-winning-goal with less than seven seconds left to put the Irish up 6-5 and clinch a spot in the final. 

The Final was just as thrilling as the two semi-final games. At the half, Notre Dame and Syracuse were all tied up at seven. However, the Fighting Irish came out of the half hot, scoring seven goals in the third quarter and only giving up two goals to take a 14-9 lead. Six minutes into the fourth quarter, the Fighting Irish seemed to be on their way to victory as they had a 15-10 lead. But, the Orange began to fight back. When Scott Loy scored with 2:02 remaining, the Notre Dame lead was down to one. Notre Dame won the ensuing face-off, but Dominic Lamolinara, who came on at the start of the fourth, saved a point blank shot off of his face mask. Syracuse got the ball and went on the attack. The Orange could not get the ball in the net as Conor Kelly made a great save with a few seconds left to seal the deal for the Irish. Kavanagh was MVP of the Tournament. 

Patriot League Final

Jack Runkel
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The Loyola Greyhounds (#1/#1) went up against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (#18/#18) in the Patriot League Championship Game. Loyola defeated Colgate 12-6 in the semi-final, while Lehigh defeated Army 12-11 in their semi-final game. Loyola won the game handily, 17-6, and extended their winning streak to fourteen games. Lehigh struck first, but Loyola, whose only loss this year came at the hands of Virginia in OT, scored six consecutive goals and was up 7-3 at half time. The second half was all Greyhounds, as they scored nine goals to the Mountiain Hawks four. When the horn sounded, Loyola won 16-7. Greyhound goalie Jack Runkel made fifteen saves and was named Patriot League Tournament MVP.

NBA Playoffs Preview 2014

Key to Miami Three-Peat: Chris Bosh, Miami Heat, C

While LeBron James is the best player in the league and the team is always better when Dwayne Wade is healthy, Chris Bosh is the key to Miami's success. Last year when Bosh struggled, the Heat had a very tough time against both the Indiana Pacers and the San Antonio Spurs. However, the year before when Bosh played brilliantly, the Heat won with relative ease. Bosh will always be the key to the Heat as long LeBron is still on the team.

Breakout Player in the East: Kyle Lowry, Toronto Raptors, G

Lowry reminds me a lot of Stephen Curry last year. A high scoring point guard who is the team's best player yet was snubbed for the All-Star Game. Lowry averaged about 18 points per game and 8 assists per game this year. If the Raptors beat the Nets, expect Lowry to make a name for himself in that series and then also star in the Eastern Conference Semis, possibly against Miami.

Breakout Player in the West: Patrick Beverley, Houston Rockets, G

Beverley is a high energy player. His motor never stops. Not only that, he fits very well into the Rockets offense. Even though he is the point guard, he does not need the ball to be successful. When it's crunch time, expect Beverley to make a play on offense or defense and as a result, become a household name.

X-Factor in the East: George Hill, Indiana Pacers, G

Hill has struggled for the Pacers this year. After a great season last year, almost all of his numbers have dipped. However, he can make up for it if he returns to the player he was last year in the playoffs. The Pacers need production from the point guard position and Hill is the only one who could bring the needed production. 

X-Factor in the West: Robin Lopez, Portland Trailblazers, C

Lopez's season has been fantastic. He averaged 11.5 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game, and 1.4 blocks per game. He also had 9.5 Win Shares (19th in the NBA), .178 Win Shares per 48 minutes (19th), 128.1 Offensive Rating (1st), 13.6% Offensive Rebound Percentage (4th), and a .606 True Shooting Percentage (8th). Those are numbers of a great player, yet Lopez is in the shadow of Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge. While Lopez will not be in the spotlight, he will play well and the Trailblazers will be better with him on the floor.

PREDICTIONS

WEST

1. San Antonio over 8. Dallas

2. Oklahoma City over 7. Memphis

3. Los Angeles over 6. Golden State

4. Houston over 5. Portland

4. Houston over 1. San Antonio

2. Oklahoma City over 3. Los Angeles

2. Oklahoma City over 4. Houston

EAST

1. Indiana over. 8. Atlanta

2. Miami over 7. Charlotte

6. Brooklyn over 3. Toronto

4. Chicago over 5. Washington

4. Chicago over. 1. Indiana

2. Miami over 6. Brooklyn

2. Miami over 4. Chicago

NBA FINALS

Miami over Oklahoma City