5 MLB Storylines We Gotta Talk About This Week: Anthony Rendon is BIG Mad

Welcome to MLB storylines we gotta talk about this week which will be a weekly deep dive into the random baseball-related stories that I want to talk to you guys about. This week we a whole bunch of guys being unhappy as hell.

Here are the 5 MLB storylines we gotta talk about this week:

1. Anthony Rendon isn’t having fun

After collecting all of the universal baseball goodwill of the World Baseball Classic, Shohei Ohtani stepped onto the mound opening day for the Angels and threw 6 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts. Some real king shit.

The Angels lost 1-2 to an Oakland team that has exhibited no desire to win baseball games. Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon—who had 0 hits and struck out twice in that opening day loss—didn’t handle the early adversity very well.

Anthony Rendon wanted the smoke pic.twitter.com/6GUbaVIPTw

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 31, 2023

I can’t even be angry at this fan. As much as people online talk all the shit in the world, this man said whatever he said directly into Anthony Rendon’s eyes which is probably why Rendon reacted so poorly. No one ever says things to people’s faces anymore.

Anthony Rendon didn’t know how to behave in a situation that doesn’t exist in 2023. Face-to-face confrontations don’t happen these days.

The Angels are being coached by Phil Nevin—a meathead who would prefer to handle his problems with slap boxing than with healthy dialogue. This Angels team is going to lose 90 games and fight after every single L. I cannot wait.

2. Aaron Hicks, too, is not having fun

The Yankees have played 3 games this season. Aaron Hicks has a grand total on 1 at-bat. He struck out. Since arriving to New York in 2016, Hicks has been shoved into the daily lineup for better or worse.

2018 was a career year for Hicks. Here’s what he did to earn some MVP votes at the end of that year:

119 hits
27 homers
79 RBIs
90 runs
4.9 offensive WAR (10th in the AL)

And he was an outstanding outfielder. All of this leading to New York handing him a 7-year $70 million extension. Since signing that new deal, Hicks has been the definition of average. He hit double digits home runs once after this contract (he had 12 once) and hasn’t been able to stay healthy enough to be counted on regularly.

The 2023 Yankees will live and die by the youth at the bottom of their order. Hicks has become an afterthought and he’s fully aware of it. Here’s what he told The Athletic recently:

“I have no idea what my role is. It’s kind of uncertain. “I just want to play. I don’t want to come off the bench and face closers all day. I want to play the field, I want to play everyday, and it’s just what I want to do. I want to start. I really don’t know what else to say.”

The last Yankee to talk recklessly about their playing time was Clint Frazier who now plays for the AAA Round Rock Express. If Aaron Hicks wants playing time so badly then I’m sure there are plenty of minor league ball clubs that will have him.

In the meantime, he should enjoy playing for one of the best teams in the sport and just wait for an inevitable injury to prove himself.

3. You know who’s really not having fun? The Phillies

Not only are the Philadelphia Phillies starting this season by getting swept by the Texas Rangers but they lost those 3 games by a combined 18 runs. Nooooot great to lose in the World Series and then come back the following season and immediately lose every time you jog onto the field.

It sucks that Bryce Harper is still recovering from Tommy John surgery but the other 24 men on this roster should still be capable of winning a game. Or if not, they should be capable of putting up more of a fight when they lose.

It also sucks they’re about to play a series against the Yankees so uh, the Phillies might not win a game for quite some time.

I will give Philadelphia credit for their opening day bashing of Jacob deGrom. It was one of the worst starts in deGrom’s career giving up 6 hits and 5 runs, including a home run to Alec Bohm in the 2nd inning.

Alec Bohm takes deGrom deep! pic.twitter.com/9m5mMkGG2l

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 30, 2023

I mean, the Rangers still beat their asses 11-7 but man, what a fun first few innings for the Phillies.

4. Jake Cronenworth: Bag Collector

Jake Cronenworth agrees to seven-year, $80M extension with Padres, per @JeffPassan pic.twitter.com/sVLSmEIVDr

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) April 1, 2023

Congrats to Jake Cronenworth for getting that life-changing money. Now, his stats may not be as eye-popping as his future Hall-of-Fame teammates with him being a big lefty first baseman whose season-high home run total is only 21. He’s never had 100+ RBIs. Last season, he had a .239 batting average which stinks even in a post-batting average world.

But here he is wearing a jersey for the local minor league hockey team (Go Gulls!):

If you want to establish a winning culture, you have to reward your homegrown guys who genuinely enjoy being in your city.

Yes, acquiring Manny Machado and Juan Soto helps with a lot of that winning but fans need to be able to get behind the players and truly invest in them personally which is why guys like Cronenworth are so crucial. Xander Bogaerts is a mercenary who would play for the highest bidder and has no allegiance to San Diego. Jake Cronenworth would die for the Padres.

It also helped that he hit that bomb against the Dodgers in the playoffs last season to help push the Padres to the NLCS.

5. The new rules work

Everyone and their mothers were crying about their beloved game of baseball being mutilated and raped by a few subtle rule changes like increasing the size of the bases and removing the shift and *GASP*, installing a pitch clock.

It took one day to realize all of these rule changes were great and borderline unnoticable.

Quick takeaways:

1) More than a half-hour shaved off games with more offense and more action. Yes, please.

2) Almost all the offensive gains have come from singles.

3) With SB% so high, teams are going to run more. Success rate bound to drop.

4) Sub-1 violation/game is great.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 3, 2023

By all accounts, it’s been a massive success. For years people complained about analytics ruining the game. The two true outcomes of either a strike out or home run had completely removed all of the action from the sport.

Well now there are more stolen bases and base hits than we’ve seen in years but people will still complain because that’s what you do online. You complain and wait for the attention you’re about to receive because our brains are addicted to receiving push notifications. Doesn’t matter if everyone is dunking on you or praising you, a notification is a notification.

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