Weekly Takes - Monday, April 11 Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, April 11 Edition

1. My three stars from the Maple Leafs dominant win over Tampa Bay on Monday…

1. Auston Matthews

2. Pierre Engvall

3. Jack Campbell

There is really not much more to say at this point when it comes to #34. He is doing what Kawhi Leonard did in 2018-2019.

It is breathtaking. Every shift and game is breathtaking.

2. My three stars from the Leafs collapse to the Panthers on Tuesday…

1. Mitch Marner

2. Michael Bunting

3. Matthews

Blowing a 5-1 lead is obviously… not good, but there is nothing I takeaway from this game that has me concerned long term.

They just flat out looked gassed, on the second half of a back to back, in a game where the pace was breathtakingly fast.

If T.J. Brodie scored on his breakaway up 5-1 or if Erik Kallgren did not allow an awful goal to Radko Gudas, they win this game with ease.

Such is life.

Take the seven out of eight points against the Panthers, Bruins, and Lightning and move on.

3. My three stars from the Leafs overtime win over the Stars on Thursday…

1. Matthews

2. John Tavares

3. William Nylander

As I wrote after Monday’s win… every shift and every game from Matthews is breathtaking. I have no idea what to say anymore without coming off as repetitive.

He is having the most electrifying season by a team sport athlete since Steph Curry in 2015-2016.

Just enjoy it. That is all you can do.

4. My three stars from the Leafs win over the Canadiens on Saturday…

1. Matthews

2. Tavares

3. Erik Kallgren

5. A week late, but here are my 2022 MLB predictions…

American League

East

1. Toronto (1)

2. New York Yankees (WC1)

3. Tampa Bay (WC2)

4. Boston (WC3)

5. Baltimore

Central

1. Chicago White Sox (3)

2. Minnesota

3. Detroit

4. Kansas City

5. Cleveland

West

1. Houston (2)

2. Los Angeles Angels

3. Seattle

4. Texas

5. Oakland

National League

East

1. Atlanta (2)

2. New York Mets (WC1)

3. Philadelphia

4. Miami

5. Washington

Central

1. Milwaukee (3)

2. St. Louis

3. Chicago Cubs

4. Cincinnati

5. Pittsburgh

West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (1)

2. San Francisco (WC2)

3. San Diego (WC3)

4. Colorado

5. Arizona

World Series

Toronto defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers

World Series MVP: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Individual Awards

• American League Most Valuable Player: Mike Trout

• National League Most Valuable Player: Juan Soto

• American League Rookie of the Year: Bobby Witt Jr.

• National League Rookie of the Year: Oneil Cruz

• American League Cy Young: Gerrit Cole

• National League Cy Young: Corbin Burnes

• American League Reliever of the Year: Liam Hendriks

• National League Reliever of the Year: Josh Hader

• American League Silver Slugger Award Winners: Yasmani Grandal, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jose Altuve, Corey Seager, Jose Ramirez, Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Shohei Ohtani

• National League Silver Slugger Award Winners: Will Smith, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Trea Turner, Manny Machado, Juan Soto, Ronald Acuna Jr., Bryce Harper, and Nelson Cruz

• American League Rawlings Gold Glove Award Winners: Salvador Perez, Yandy Diaz, Marcus Seimen, Taylor Wells, Matt Chapman, Byron Buxon, Kevin Kiermaier, and Michael A. Taylor

• National League Rawlings Gold Glove Award Winners: Roberto Perez, Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, Francisco Lindor, Nolan Arenado, Harrison Bader, Daulton Varsho, and Trent Grisham

• American League Manager of the Year: Charlie Montoyo

• National League Manager of the Year: Gabe Kapler

6. The Anthony Castro for Bradley Zimmer trade is some tidy business by Ross Atkins.

Castro is a useful depth reliever and you can never have enough of those but Zimmer has elite speed and defensive ability, to go along with high-end power from the left side.

He does not get on base enough and has issues staying healthy but you make this trade every day of the week if you are the Blue Jays.

If he puts it all together, great, you have a starting calibre outfielder. But Zimmer in his current form can already be a useful piece to the team.

7. Full credit to Mark Shapiro and the Blue Jays for making the best of a not-so-great situation with the Rogers Centre.

The new scoreboard and lighting has greatly enhanced the in-game experience.

8. The Raptors were great for seven seasons, missed the playoffs for one season during a Covid-ravaged season that saw them play in Tampa Bay, moved up in the draft lottery, drafted the best player in the draft, and are now a top-five team in the Eastern Conference a season later.

Giddy up.

They may be a one-and-done in the playoffs but they are one Masai Ujiri offseason away from being a title contender again.

They are right there with the Heat and Warriors as one of the most well-run teams in the NBA.

9. My 2022 NBA Playoff Predictions…

Eastern Conference

Play In…

• Nets beat Cavs (7th Seed Game)

• Hawks beat Hornets

• Cavs beat Hawks (8th Seed Game)

First Round…

• Heat beat Cavs in five

• Bucks beat Bulls in four

• Nets beat Celtics in seven

• 76ers beat Raptors in six

Second Round…

• Heat beat 76ers in seven

• Bucks beat Nets in seven

Third Round…

• Bucks beat Heat in six

Western Conference…

Play in…

• Clippers beat Timberwolves (7th Seed Game)

• Pelicans beat Spurs

• Timberwolves beat Pelicans (8th Seed Game)

First Round…

• Suns beat Timberwolves in five

• Grizzlies beat Clippers in seven

• Jazz beats Mavericks in seven

• Warriors beat Nuggets in seven

Second Round…

• Suns beat Warriors in seven

• Grizzlies beat Jazz in seven

Third Round…

• Suns beat Grizzlies in six

NBA Finals: Bucks beat Suns in seven

Finals MVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Teams with the Most Pressure: Heat, 76ers, Suns, and Jazz.

The Jazz may blow things up if they do not make it to at least the third round, while the Suns and Heat having aging cores and need to win a ring at some point.

And no one has any idea if this 76ers experiment will work.

10. Kansas-North Carolina capped off one of the better March Madness tournaments in recent memory.

There was a great underdog story in Saint Peters, there was an iconic game between UNC and Duke, and there was a Championship Game that will be remembered for a longtime.

The only bummer was seeing Armando Bacot get hurt in the final moments of the title game.

Full credit to the Jayhawks for not shooting in that moment, though. No one would have blamed them for taking the free bucket but who wants to be crowned a National Champion that way?

11. If Adam Schefter’s tweet about Deshaun Watson did not cement his status as a hack, his tweet about the late Dwayne Haskins surely did that.

He is a bad person. Someone who will say or do anything to advance in his career. A bottom of the barrel human being. A disgrace to the journalism profession.

12. There have been *a lot* of dominant stretches in golf throughout the years but what Scottie Scheffler is doing right now is up there with any of them.

The guy is flat out better than anyone else on tour right now.