TOO SOON?

Del Olaleye: Hey baseball, it's not your time yet

Del Olaleye: Hey baseball, it's not your time yet
The Astros just celebrated a World Series win. Harry How/Getty Images

When did the final whistle of the NFL season start the clock on the baseball season? The moment Tom Brady’s final pass hit the turf and the Eagles won their first Super Bowl twitter took a dark turn. I don’t follow many people to avoid clutter but my picky twitter habits didn’t stop the onslaught of baseball tweets and retweets. It came from team-run accounts, media members and fans. Everyone was celebrating the start of the baseball season. On Feb. 5. The same Sunday night as the Super Bowl. What the hell is wrong with these people?

Baseball is fine if you like that sort of thing. That “sort of thing” is a sport that has traditionally frowned on players showing emotion that falls outside of what is deemed acceptable. A sport that features an archaic set of unwritten rules that you have no idea exist until one is broken. Do you think you might enjoy a sport that polices itself by hurling a hard fist-size projectile at a person’s ribs? Then I’ve got 162 games for you. That’s right, 162 games. Games that can range in length from two-plus hours to double the length of a feature film.  The following will be a common scenario at the beginning of April:

“Meet me at Cinemark at 9:30 for Black Panther? I’m watching the Astros right now.” - Baseball Fan

“But it’s only 4. I was thinking 7:30. How long can a game take?“ - someone smarter than Baseball Fan

“We never really know.” - Baseball Fan says wistfully

There is more than enough baseball to go around. The games that count begin in early April and end in October, if we’re lucky. In the case of the 2017 season we were “treated” to November baseball. A logical person might say that is way too much baseball for anyone reasonable. I’m resigned to the fact that the season won’t be shortened to 100 games or to my preferred 80. But baseball fans will not convince me that the third most popular sport in America actually begins in February. Don’t get too comfortable with that distant bronze medal either. Soccer is gaining and if the US Soccer Federation could put together a decent product baseball would get knocked off the medal stand.

There are multiple major sporting events on the calendar before baseball actually begins to matter. NBA All-Star weekend begins on the 16th of this month. The NFL Draft starts April 26th. The NBA Finals begin May 31st. The World Cup begins June 14th. These are all things that will take over the national conversation while baseball twitter is telling us “it’s too early to make draw conclusions” or “there is still so much baseball left.” Your favorite baseball team could put together a ten-game winning streak and it wouldn’t cause a blip. No one will care but the seven percent of the American population that still considers the sport America’s Pastime. By the way, a 10-game winning streak in baseball happens to equate to just under 6.2 percent of total games in a season. Yeah, the season is way too long.

I’m getting distracted. This isn’t so much about baseball as it is about baseball twitter. Twitter accounts operated by the Astros, MLB and something called Cut4 immediately announced the start of baseball season after the Super Bowl ended. They weren’t the only ones. Of all teams, the Marlins decided to tell us it is “their turn.” The Marlins? How many people in south Florida could name four Marlins? Just stop it. You have your place, baseball twitter. There is that little sweet spot after the Final Four and before the conference finals in the NBA. A little over a month to try to not overwhelm us with early season stats that you readily admit don’t mean much. Until then keep quiet. The rest of us just tolerate you.

The World Series lasted into November and the Astros defeated the Dodgers in Game 7 to win their first World Series. Baseball season was taken to the very limit and I guess it was so great people can’t wait to start it all over again.

Well I can wait.

The season really begins July 4. You know this baseball twitter. Don’t try to change the rules now.

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Chas McCormick gets another start in Game 2. Composite Getty Image.

The Houston Astros will aim to lock up a series victory Tuesday night as they face the Tampa Bay Rays in the second game of a three-game set. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET.

Houston (25–22) took the opener 4–3 on Monday and has now won five of its last ten games, continuing a recent surge that has pulled them back above .500 and into second place in the AL West. Tampa Bay (21–26) sits fourth in the AL East and has struggled to find consistency, especially at home where they are now just 11–18.

The Astros will turn to left-hander Brandon Walter, who is set to make his season debut. Walter, a depth option from the Astros' system, gets the nod with the club working through recent rotation injuries.

The Rays counter with right-hander Zack Littell (3–5, 4.31 ERA), who has been solid but not dominant across his first nine starts. He’s struck out 32 batters in 54.1 innings with a strong 1.12 WHIP.

Team trends

Houston holds the AL’s fifth-best team on-base percentage (.318) and has gone 6–4 over its last 10 games, posting a .252 batting average and a 3.78 team ERA in that span. Tampa Bay is 5–5 over its last 10, hitting .236 while their pitching staff has combined for a 4.34 ERA.

Players to watch

  • Jake Meyers continues to provide timely power for Houston, while Isaac Paredes has been one of Houston's steadiest hitters, going 11-for-37 with three home runs over his last 10 games.
  • Jonathan Aranda leads the Rays with a .309 batting average and has been a consistent bat in the middle of their lineup.
  • Chandler Simpson, a recent spark plug for Tampa, is hitting .364 over his last 10 games.

Betting line

According to BetMGM, the Astros are slight road favorites at -114, with the Rays at -105. The over/under is set at 9.5 runs, signaling expectations for a potentially high-scoring matchup.

With the series opener in their pocket and Walter making his first appearance of the year, the Astros will look to keep momentum rolling in Tampa and inch closer to the top of the AL West standings.

Here's a look at Tuesday's night's lineup:

Yainer Diaz gets the night off, with Victor Caratini catching Walter in his big league debut. Chas McCormick is in the lineup again playing left field, and Zach Dezenzo gets the nod in the DH spot.

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