Welcome to Ask Alexandro, where Alexandro (me) answers your sports questions. I like throwing in a few casual questions, keeping this lighthearted.
We’ve got a great set of questions today. Let’s take a look at what people asked.
How about Eric Thames?
@TheRealZatarain @TheAOSNcom Is Eric Thames the real deal? How many HRs will he finish the season with?
— Micah Drago (@MADpengame) April 25, 2017
Eric Thames has been the talk of the town. He’s been so hot that he has already submitted his THIRD drug test just 21 games into the season.
The Milwaukee Brewers outfielder came out of nowhere after spending the last few years playing in South Korea. At 30 years old, Thames has 11 HRs (on pace for 81), a .371 BA, 19 RBI, and .482 OBP. He’s a seasoned player and pitchers aren’t accustomed to him. He is bound to slow down but the Brewers may have a good enough lineup that will allow him to keep his numbers up, rather than watch them drop sharply.
He is much more than capable of hitting the 30 home run mark. Barring any injury, I’ll go with 34 home runs.
Kevin Siegrist‘s loss of velocity…
From Zach Martin (@theonlyseamus)
Okay…explain the loss of velocity on Kevin Siegrist’s fastball and how it’s affected his value, comparing, say, 2013 to 2017 so far.
Siegrist is a relatively young guy at the ripe age if 27. The loss of velocity really can’t be blamed on age, so one must look at health and mechanics. As a reliever, his drop can be seen as very worrisome.
After doing some digging, one can go back to this 2014 article from St. Louis Post-Dispatch that points out Siegrist’s nerve irritation in 2014. Then there’s a second piece, from the same source in 2016, that goes back to Siegrist’s nerve problems.
One can also look at the increase in movement in his pitches. Add that to his health and that may explain the drop in velocity.
Despite this, Siegrist has still put up respectable numbers since the irritation was made public in 2014. 2017 has been difficult though, giving up seven runs in 7.1 IP.
Hockey struggling in the south?
@TheRealZatarain @TheAOSNcom Why is the NHL doing so poorly in the US southern regions?
— C-X-E-1 (@rtmiddleton64) April 26, 2017
Difficult question but there’s a few reasons. In fact, it wasn’t just the south that was affected. The United States based NHL teams struggled with television ratings due to the Presidential Election. The Colorado Avalanche saw as much as a 56% decline in ratings. The Anaheim Ducks saw a drop of 46%. 10 of the 21 teams tracked saw rises in their ratings.
As for attendance, I’ll keep this one quick. A team like the Dallas Stars saw a dip of a few hundred per game. There are two things that could be attributed to this. The most important: winning. The Stars won the Central Division and were the highest seed in the Western Conference in 2016. This year they failed to make the playoffs.
The second reason could be the success of the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys went 4-12 in 2015 but exploded towards a 13-3 record in 2016, which resulted in a rise in attendance.
Each city is different but the biggest point is the fact that the NHL saw a drop as a whole.
Are the Padres ready to take over San Diego?
From Curtis Chamblee (@1st2_3rdsports)
So is San Diego ready to become a baseball town? Do you see the Padres making strides to put a consistent winner on the diamond?
The loss of the Chargers has been huge for San Diego and its fans.
With the Padres now being the only major sports team in the city, all eyes are on them.
In fact, General Manager A.J. Preller has been ready to shine the spotlight on the team he’s been with since 2014. In his first full season, he brought in the likes of Wil Myers, Matt Kemp, Craig Kimbrel, Derek Norris, Justin Upton, Melvin Upton Jr., and James Shields. The hype was real. The results? Not so much. What it did do is put people in seats. A small victory.
Fast-forward to Opening Day of 2017 and only one remains: Wil Myers. Preller succeeded in replenishing the farm system, which he had decimated in acquiring said players, getting a much higher return than what he initially spent.
The team is now focusing on the farm, something the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs did a few years back. Both teams were terrible, but have made leaps and bounds since.
The Padres are not only set to take over San Diego and make it a baseball town, they’re working towards winning.
I appreciate all of the questions and I hope you all enjoyed my opinions!
Talk to you all soon!
-Alexandro