What’s Next for Nosebleed Sports

So I know what you’re probably thinking, this guy is writing his sixth ever newsletter and he’s already making a major change… wtf? And honestly that’s fair. But over the course of these last two weeks, I’ve learned a lot about what I like writing, what I’m best at writing, and what writing you all enjoy the most.

So I present to you Nosebleed Sports’ new strategic content plan for the foreseeable future.

Monday Newsletter

The Monday morning newsletter will now be a similar style to the last newsletter that was written about Draymond Green and leadership - an in-depth analysis into a certain sports topic that will provide an interesting perspective and valuable insights. The Monday newsletter will also include items like season primers and tournament previews.

Personally, these are the newsletters that I am most excited about. I believe these pieces have excellent potential to grow the Nosebleed Sports community, and I cannot wait to dive into all of these different projects that I have in mind.

Wednesday Newsletter

The Wednesday newsletter will now be dedicated to providing you with a weekly power rankings for whatever sport is in season. These power rankings will leverage numerous resources to help us develop a composite rankings, allowing us to see who is truly performing the best.

Friday Newsletters

The Friday newsletter is where we’ll discuss the biggest sports stories from the last week. It will be similar to the majority of the newsletters that have been put out to date, but now there will be a much more targeted focus and deeper analysis on the most exciting stories in sports.

I hope everyone is excited for the beginning of this new chapter for Nosebleed Sports - I know I am.

Alek Manoah will start Friday night against the Detroit Tigers

He’s back.

After a short stint in the minors, 2022 Cy Young finalist Alek Manoah will be back on a major league mound looking to rebound from his brutal (that may even be an understatement) first half of the season.

Manoah made two starts in the minors while away from the Blue Jays. His first one was in the Florida Complex League, and it was god awful. Here are his numbers from that start:

🤮 

To call it ugly would be generous.

But the Big Puma rebounded in his next start with the AA New Hampshire Fisher Cats:

Infinitely better.

But even with a much better performance under his belt, who knows what Manoah is going to look like in Detroit. He wasn’t away from the Blue Jays for long - certainly not long enough to make any major changes and improvements.

Manoah’s poor performance so far in 2023 isn’t just a general regression from his elite 2022 season, he just hasn’t been the same guy in any way, shape, or form. So what has been the issue?

Now everyone seems to have their own opinion on what is wrong with Manoah. Many people seem to think his weight is the problem. Others think his conditioning isn’t good enough for him to be an effective pitcher with the addition of the pitch clock. But I have a different theory.

According to Baseball Reference, Alek Manoah pitched 196.2 innings last year (not including Spring Training or the Postseason) good for 4th most in the American League. His previous career high before that: 111.2. I don’t think his weight and condition are the (main) reasons he’s struggling, his arm is just dead. His fastball velocity has dropped, the movement of his slider isn’t as sharp. These aren’t issues that occur just because you’re out of shape or feel rushed from the pitch clock, his arm just doesn’t have much in the tank.

I think Manoah will be an all-star pitcher again at some point, but right now, I think the biggest thing he needs is time for his arm to fully recover (getting in better shape wouldn’t hurt though).

I’m hopeful we’ll see shades of 2022 Manoah on the mound Friday night, but I can’t say I’m confident we will.

Prove me wrong, Alek.

Mavericks acquire Grant Williams and Matisse Thybulle

These two aren’t outstanding players, but they bring solid defense and depth to a team that desperately needs it.

The Mavericks will be an exciting team to watch next season. They have as much talent as anyone with Luka and Kyrie, but those two didn’t gel at all to end last season, ultimately leading to the Mavericks falling apart and finishing 11th in the West.

They could miss the playoffs again, or win the whole damn thing next season - I’m not sure either result would surprise me.

Kings sign Kopitar through 2025-26 season

The LA Kings have locked down their captain, Anze Kopitar, signing him to a 2-year, $7M AAV contract that kicks in for the 2024-25 season.

The two-time Stanley Cup champ has been a model of consistency his whole career, and it looks like the 35-year-old center still has plenty of game left in the tank.

The Kings will be pretty formidable down the middle with their trio of Kopitar, Dubois, and Danault. But will it be enough to beat the likes of Edmonton and Vegas in the Pacific? We’ll find out soon enough.

That officially wraps up the second week of newsletters!

As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed spending some time with me in The Nosebleeds🩸 

Have a good weekend, see y’all bright and early Monday morning 🤠