This piece isn’t about that extra day in February that comes around once every four years. I’m a year late for that. No, this is a 2500-word breakdown of the 2010 rom-com starring Amy Adams, who has actually appeared in every single movie since 2005. I should’ve saved this piece for January 8th, which marks the 7-year anniversary since the film’s release, but we don’t post on Sundays. Anyway, Adams plays Anna who is… OK, I’ve taken this joke (and I use that term loosely) entirely too far, but I still kinda want to write 2500 words on this sweet, sweet movie film.
A leap year in sports isn’t an official thing, but “making the leap” is when a player puts it all together and pans out on previously established promise. I’m not even sure you have to have the promise or hype ahead of your leap, but the pitchers I’m discussing in this piece definitely do. “Leapers” over the last two seasons include guys like Aaron Sanchez, Danny Duffy, Carlos Carrasco, Gerrit Cole, and Carlos Martinez. There is no set formula or requirements, so this is definitely more of a feel thing.
Sanchez had all of 125.3 MLB innings, mostly in the bullpen before his 2016 breakout. Cole had two solid seasons with about 2/3rds of a full workload before his 208-inning masterpiece in 2015. Carrasco discovered himself in the bullpen as a 27-year old after multiple false starts in five disjointed MLB seasons (one of which was lost to TJ recovery).
To give some idea of what would constitute a leap year, I’d say first and foremost that you have to throw a full season (162+ IP) and then the stats can vary, but probably no worse than a mid-3.00s ERA, low-1.20s WHIP, and a good strikeout rate. Here are four American Leaguers who look ready for their leap in 2017 (I’ll have 4 NLers tomorrow*):
*Author Note – I mean Friday… we recorded the pod Thursday and I didn’t get to finish the last part of the NL piece, so look for it early Friday.
Carlos Rodon | White Sox
Rodon keeps teasing with his second halves. Add up both and he has a 3.58 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and 24% K rate in 146 IP. He took steps to combat his egregious walk rate dropping it from 12% to 8%. Early on, it seemed to be more control than command as his hit and home run rates surged in the first half (10.7 H/9, 1.5 HR/9), but the command came around in the second half as he continued to hit the zone while dropping the hits and homers to 8.3 and 1.0, respectively.
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