Late February marks the start of full spring training, with teams across Major League Baseball back on the field preparing for the new season. Aaron Judge and the Yankees are getting their bats back in shape, putting up a 20-spot against Detroit. The Judge hit his two home runs of spring training in the game.
The captain for Team USA is looking forward to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) this March.
“We’ve got the WBC coming up, which I’m excited about, and an exciting Yankees season,” Judge said postgame.
The USA lost to Japan in the championship game in 2023. Notable New York names competing for the United States in this year’s WBC are Mets’ pitchers Clay Holmes and Nolan McLean.
Other New York players in the WBC are Austin Wells, Camilo Doval, Amed Rosario and their captain, Juan Soto, for the Dominican Republic.
The WBC kicks off on March 4 with Chinese Taipei and Australia from Tokyo, Japan. Team USA opens its revenge tour against Brazil on March 6 in Houston, Texas.
What can we expect as an outcome from the WBC? Expect the USA to take down Japan in the championship. Why? Team USA’s roster looks stronger than ever, with new stars Paul Skenes, Bobby Witt Jr., Pete Crow-Armstrong and Tarik Skubal set to make their World Baseball Classic debuts. Surprisingly, this is Aaron Judge’s first WBC. The three-time MVP decided not to play in the 2023 WBC and instead focused on his new captain role for the Yankees. This year, the Judge is all-in for his country.
Switching gears to basketball, the New York Knicks have been up and down as of late. They were bullied by Detroit once again, this time at Madison Square Garden. Cade Cunningham proved that he should be in the MVP conversation, putting up 42 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. Cunningham got everywhere he wanted, toying with Knicks’ defenders all night. The Pistons have swept the season series against New York, with a +84 point differential.
Changes need to happen if the Knicks want to stand a chance against Detroit when they face each other in the playoffs. We saw the same last season in the Boston playoff series, where they swept the Knicks in the regular season, yet New York won the series in six games. Hopefully, the same will happen in these playoffs for the Knicks.
The Knicks were throttled by Cleveland on Tuesday night; another playoff team, the Knicks didn’t have any threat against for the entire game. Yes, however, the Knicks did beat Houston in a miracle type of comeback down as much as 18 points in the fourth quarter.
Jalen Brunson was nowhere in the loss to the Cavs, shooting an abysmal 6/19. When Brunson is off, the whole team is off. It’s yet again another season where the Knicks rely on Brunson and nobody else. Karl-Anthony Towns is having a down year as well. New York didn’t trade for KAT for no reason.
I do want to be optimistic and say the Knicks are still ramping up for the playoffs, but having performances where it looks like the team missed the bus to the arena is unacceptable. Look at teams like Detroit, Oklahoma City and San Antonio. Those teams feed off one another. They are so well built; everyone is on the same page night in and night out. There have been a few times this season where we’ve seen that from the Knicks. New York doesn’t seem to click like the other powerhouse teams in the league.
Is it a coaching issue? Is it a player issue? It needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. It won’t be pretty for Knicks fans if they make an early exit in what is supposed to be a long playoff run this season.