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© Copyright 2018 – 2024 FIRECRACKER SPORTS. All Rights Reserved. TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY
© Copyright 2018 – 2024 FIRECRACKER SPORTS. All Rights Reserved. TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY
After using last week’s blog post to share some games and performances from our Northeast Premier Baseball League, Firecracker Sports is back with our newest update from “Boomer’s Blogs”. This week, we’ve decided to switch gears from youth baseball to some more prominent levels of the game; instead of discussing some of our upcoming tournaments & events or the NPBL, we’re going to be sharing standings, notable statistics, and ongoing stories from throughout DI NCAA Baseball and Major League Baseball! We know that the sport is stitched together between all levels of the game, and so we felt that a blog highlighting some of the most important current information and statistics from throughout baseball would go along with some of the other blogs and posts we’ve put out recently. All records, statistics, and information included in this blog will be as of Sunday, April 20th (NCAA Rankings as of April 21st), but we’ll be sure to keep up on things in the event that we want to put out another post like this in the future!
NCAA DI Top 25:
While there are a variety of available rankings from different media outlets and sources across the internet, we decided to reference and utilize the “USA TODAY Sports” weekly coaches poll; who better to rank these elite teams, than the leaders of the very same top-notch programs! Each week, a panel of 31 head coaches across Division I Baseball submits their own list of the top 25 teams, with each vote decreasing in value (1st = 25pts, 2nd = 24 pts, etc.). Below, you’ll find the rankings that were released Monday, April 21st, along with each team’s record following the conclusion of games Sunday, April 20th.
As you can see, there’s a relatively strong push from schools in the SEC and ACC, as well as appearances from Big Ten and Big 12 schools. However, we also wanted to shed some spotlight on programs in the Northeast who may not be getting quite the same attention. For example, Central Connecticut State University currently sits at the top of the Northeast Conference (NEC), with an overall record of 22-7, and conference record of 17-1, and as a team they’re currently slashing .346/.455/.523. CCSU baseball has been on a tear, and while it’s certainly a team effort, there are a couple players who have helped and shown out in major ways. At the plate, Aidan Redahan has been red hot for the Blue Devils; the Senior from Greenwich, CT leads all of qualifying D1 hitters with his unreal .463 batting average through 29 games played! On the mound, CCSU has another gem in pitcher Vincent Borghese from Southington, CT, who has the 5th lowest ERA in D1 baseball at 1.53 through 47 innings pitched. Vincent’s 7 wins are also tied for 4th most in the division. Both these players, as well as their teammates, have all been working hard to bring more attention and acclaim to baseball in the Northeast, which is something we can definitely get behind!
MLB Standings, Stats, and Storylines:
Moving up from college ball to the pros, we’re going to run through the current standings in the three divisions from each league, show off some notable statistics from around the league, and discuss some of the most recent major stories and conversations from around Major League Baseball! (Records and standings are as of the conclusion of all games on Thursday, April 17th)
AL East:
New York Yankees 14-8
Toronto Blue Jays 12-10
Boston Red Sox 12-11
Baltimore Orioles 9-12
Tampa Bay Rays 9-13
NL East:
New York Mets 15-7
Philadelphia Phillies 13-9
Miami Marlins 9-12
Washington Nationals 9-13
Atlanta Braves 8-13
AL Central:
Detroit Tigers 13-9
Cleveland Guardians 12-9
Kansas City Royals 9-14
Minnesota Twins 7-15
Chicago White Sox 5-16
NL Central:
Chicago Cubs 14-10
Milwaukee Brewers 12-10
Cincinnati Reds 11-11
St. Louis Cardinals 9-13
Pittsburgh Pirates 8-15
AL West:
Texas Rangers 13-9
Seattle Mariners 12-10
LA Angels 11-10
Houston Astros 10-11
Athletics 10-12
NL West:
San Diego Padres 16-6
LA Dodgers 16-7
San Francisco Giants 14-8
AZ Diamondbacks 13-9
Colorado Rockies 4-17
While there are already some clear leaders in certain divisions, it’s still only April, and there are tons of games to be played before things are all settled for the postseason. The NL West has been a frenzy, with 4 out of 5 teams boasting winning records, the West Coast will hold some key series during the season between division rivals, as well as other top teams coming in from around the league. Moving over to the East Coast, somewhere we have a bit more familiarity, both New York teams have seen some solid starts to their seasons. The Yankees and Mets both lead their respective divisions; in the Bronx, Aaron Judge and this year’s new core of Yankees have been bashing. Over in Queens, the Mets have been powered off of Pete Alonso’s massive start to the season. Below, you can find our lists of league leaders in major batting and pitching categories, where we’ll be highlighting the top 3 leaders in each statistic! (All statistics shown are as of the conclusion of games on Sunday, April 20th)
MLB Statistics – Offensive Leaders:
Batting Average Leaders:
Home Run Leaders:
RBI Leaders:
MLB Statistics – Pitching Leaders:
ERA Leaders:
Strikeout Leaders:
Save Leaders:
MLB’s Top Story – Torpedo Bats:
On March 29th, in their second game of the season, the New York Yankees set a franchise record and tied a league record, clubbing 9 home runs over the course of a single matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers. While the initial headlines highlighted the Yankees back-to-back-to-back home runs to lead off the bottom of the 1st (Goldschmidt, Bellinger, and Judge), the media’s attention quickly turned towards the oddly shaped bats that some Yankee players were swinging. In the time since, it seems that there have been endless conversations, posts, and articles discussing the concept or even legality of the bats. The attention and notoriety that these bats caught was immense, and for those of us that follow baseball we saw just how much coverage they got, both from those around or involved with Major League Baseball, and just as much (if not more) attention from external sources. These “torpedo bats” are made exactly the same as a regular wooden bat, except that the barrel is tailored to each individual player. The idea, for players like Yankees Shortstop Anthony Volpe, is that instead of consistently making weaker contact away from the barrel of the bat, you shift the barrel to where a player makes more contact, and the bat tapers down from there, leaving the typical barrel and end of the bat slightly skinnier. The concept was created by Aaron “Lenny” Leanhardt, who is a former MIT physicist, while with the Yankees. Lenny was with the Yankees as a minor league hitting coordinator in 2022, which is around when he began developing the concept for the bats. Last season, he worked as the Yankees major league analyst, which led to the bats being used in games. This year, Lenny joined the Miami Marlins as a field coordinator. Despite many fans not knowing or realizing, torpedo bats were being used last year, and many players from other organizations have already tried them out or continued using them! A few days after the Yankees home run parade, the MLB confirmed the legality of the bats, and more and more players came out sharing that they have also used them in the past, or actively are during this season. Some have criticized the concept for “softening the game” or claim that the bats provide too much of a technical advantage, taking away from the game itself. We’ll have to see how things continue to play out, but as of now it seems that torpedo bats are here to stay. What other innovations will we see come out of baseball in the near future?
