You hear it every year from NFL coaches after the draft concludes and they are asked to analyze their selections.“You can’t honestly evaluate the draft right now because these players haven’t played a down. Come see me in four years.That’s just what we are doing here as we look back on the 2013 draft. The players who were selected that year have had a chance to put four full seasons under their belt Connor McGovern Jersey , and we know what they have done and what kind of players they are. The players are established commodities – good and bad.That draft has proved to be one of the strangest in league history. Several brilliant players have emerged from that draft, including running back Le’Veon Bell of the Pittsburgh Steelers, linebacker Kiko Alonso of the Miami Dolphins (drafted by Buffalo Bills), tight end Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs and linebacker Ezekiel Ansah of the Detroit Lions are just a few of them.However, when you look at the first round – and the first 10 picks in particular – it was one of the worst drafts of the last 10 years. There was only one skill-position player chosen among the first 15 Foster Moreau Jersey , and while wide receiver Tavon Austin is one of the fastest players in the league, he has never fully developed his talent.Many of the top players have been flat-out busts or simply ordinary. Here’s a look at what’s happening around the majors today:
SWING OR MISS?
Many hitters got off to a smashing start in July as Cleveland socked 11 doubles, Baltimore homered four times and the Cubs combined with Minnesota for 21 runs at Wrigley Field on Sunday. Now, we’ll see if the trend continues as the weather heats up and the balls fly.
June marked the second time in three months that strikeouts exceeded hits in the major leagues, a pattern that had never occurred until this year. About halfway through the season Greedy Williams Jersey , there had been 21,090 strikeouts and 20,671 hits.
SLAMMIN’
The Reds try to keep socking grand slams when the White Sox come to Great American Ball Park. Cincinnati leads the majors with nine slams and has already tied the single-season franchise record set in 2002.
Jose Peraza hit one Sunday, and pitchers Mike Lorenzen and Anthony DeSclafani recently connected. Eight different Reds have hit grand slams – Adam Duvall is the only player with two.
Washington ace Max Scherzer (10-4, 2.04 ERA) will face ex-Detroit teammate Rick Porcello (9-3, 3.60 ERA) in a matchup of former Cy Young Award winners when the Boston Red Sox visit Nationals Park.
HE’S BACK
Shortstop Jorge Polanco is set to rejoin the Twins after serving an 80-game drug suspension. He went 8 for 19 in six rehab games at Triple-A and Class A, and will report to the big league club for the series opener at Milwaukee. The 24-year-old Polanco was a key contributor last season when the Twins earned an AL wild-card spot.
SEATTLE SLOW
The Mariners plan to monitor Felix Hernandez and his back stiffness over the next few days. Hernandez pitched five innings Saturday night and earned the victory over Kansas City, but struggled with back pain and wasn’t able to sit down in the dugout between innings. The six-time All-Star is 8-6 with a 5.11 ERA in 18 starts this season.