It's official: Spring training fatigue has set in.
The initial joy of having baseball back — you know, that joy that allows you to watch random teams play exhibition games in early March — has long since disappeared.
Let’s get going with the real thing.
MORE: MLB Fan Misery Index | Opening day schedule for every team
We’re two weeks from opening day and it can’t come fast enough. At this point, fans of many teams still have high hopes for the 2016 season. A playoff berth? A World Series title? Sure! Just about everything seems possible as spring training winds down and hope springs eternal.
As we all count the days until the games count, here are 16 (mostly) reasonable requests for the 2016 season:
1. I want Bryce Harper to have an even better year than in 2015, when he won the NL MVP. He’s such an exciting player. The talent finally matched the hype last season. But he’s still just 23 years old. We’ve probably not even seen his best. So good luck with that, rest of the National League.
2. I want Mike Trout to have a better season than Bryce Harper. Now that would be impressive. Taking nothing from Harper, Trout remains the overall best player in baseball. But like Harper, he’s still just beginning his prime. As good as he’s been for the past four seasons (37.4 WAR), he could still get better.
3. I want Drake LaRoche to manage a game for the White Sox, “Little Big League”-style. It seemed like that’s where we were headed after last week. I’m sure the Sox would play well with their apparent emotional leader back in the clubhouse. Alas, the team says Drakegate is now closed. It’s a long season, though. We can still hope.
4. Actually, I want a Drake LaRoche news blackout until he gets drafted — or until he’s inducted into the White Sox Hall of Fame.
5. I want one or more of Braves prospects Dansby Swanson, Ozzie Albies and Mallex Smith to light up the minors in such a way that the team is forced to call them up to Atlanta this season. The fans would appreciate having a reason to cheer during the last season at Turner Field.
6. I want the Giants to miss the playoffs. Sorry, Giants fans. We need to kill that every-even-year narrative. Because, let’s be real, if they get in they’re going to win it all. You know it’s true.
7. I want Shelby Miller to have a great year for the Diamondbacks. Like, at least 15 wins (I know, pitcher wins don’t matter. Just go with it). After his extreme hard-luck 2015, he deserves it. Plus, it will help take attention away from the Braves’ ongoing fleecing of the Diamondbacks’ farm system.
8. I want the Cubs’ Jason Heyward to finally have that all-around breakout season. That sounds crazy to say about a guy who signed a mega-contract in the offseason, but it still feels like we haven’t seen his ceiling. But even if we have, his best is still plenty good. On a related note …
9. I want the Cubs to be as fun as advertised. Because all signs point to them being really fun and really good. Maybe even scary-good. Just imagine: It’s July, hot and the wind’s blowing out at Wrigley with Heyward, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber in the lineup. Sorry, pitchers.
10. I want 2016 to be “the year of” something weird. Like how some people called last season the Year of the Triple (Seriously, Evan Gattis had 11 triples. EVAN GATTIS!). Maybe this season can be the Year of the Catcher’s Interference or the Year of the Hidden Ball Trick. I’m open to other possibilities.
11. I want Alex Rodriguez to pass Babe Ruth in career home runs. Because how fun/crazy/annoying would that circus be? A-Rod needs 28 homers to reach 715 and pass The Babe. He hit 33 last season, so this is well within the realm of possibility. Oh, man. The hot takes and tweets from people with egg avatars would fuel New York City into the winter.
MORE: Other milestones/records in reach this season
12. I want the Braves to come to their senses and retire Andruw Jones’ No. 25 when they induct him into the team’s Hall of Fame in August. I know he never won an MVP and I know he’s probably a long-shot for Cooperstown, but look at the numbers. Now look again. Especially the defense. He was historically great. Do it, Braves.
13. I want Ichiro to get his 3,000th hit. He’s 65 away. You’d figure him to have a good shot if he stays healthy, but at 42 it’s no guarantee. It may seem odd to say this, but I feel like a lot of fans haven’t appreciated just how good Ichiro has been during his career. Consider this: He started his MLB career with 10 straight seasons of 200 or more hits, topping out at an MLB-record 262 in 2004.
14. I want to see more and better dialogue between stat-inclined fans/media and scouting-inclined fans/media. This doesn’t have to be so hard, or have such animus. It seems clear to me that the biggest reason for a lack of acceptance of analytics from old-school types is a simple lack of understanding. Dissenters often come off as hard-headed while many of the analytics folks comes off as arrogant. Both hurt the debate. Baseball should make an effort to bridge the gap. Maybe there should be an official, publicized and televised roundtable with some of the most ardent advocates for both sides, just for the sake of furthering the discussion. It might not solve anything, but I’d definitely watch it.
15. I want more bat flips and more personality. I'm not asking for either to be universally beloved, but I'd at least like to see them stop being issues. I think this season could very well be the year when a consensus begins to emerge on acceptable modern baseball celebratory behavior. If I had to guess, I'd give the edge to the pro-bat flip, pro-personality camp. Personalities are good. Fun is good. Baseball should not restrict either one.
16. I want the Royals to have another great season, if for no other reason than to stick it to Mr. PECOTA — again. Wait, wait, hear me out. I have no problem with saber-inclined projections (see No. 14). Turns out, Mr. PECOTA is often pretty accurate. It’s just that some people take it and other projections too much as gospel. The beauty of baseball is that no matter how you choose to define a player or team — whether it’s traditional stats or advanced stats — there’s always the chance they’ll play against it. On paper, maybe the Royals should win 76 games. But on the field, they could still win 90. The mystery is part of why we watch.
Bonus: I want to see who emerges as the Mets' pitching ace. Matt Harvey? Jacob deGrom? Noah Syndergaard? Maybe all three? No matter who stands out most, this Big Three will be the anchor of whatever success the Mets enjoy in 2016. Harvey at 100 percent, and deGrom and Syndergaard having another year of experience behind them spells bad news for other NL teams with World Series hopes.
OK, I know some of these aren't likely to happen. I also know that baseball is likely to surprise us with a few stories we won't see coming. I'm just ready to watch it all unfold.
It's a long way to October.
I can't wait to see how we get there.
