What a start to the 2019 baseball season. You have the Boston Red Sox sitting on a 3-8 record while the team with the most heart, the Tampa Bay Rays, are sitting upon the AL East throne with a record of 8-3. We have the reigning National League MVP, Christian Yelich, picking up right where he left off last year hitting the shit out of the ball. Then we have guys like Daniel Vogelbach of the Seattle Mariners, who i swear is an offensive lineman in another life, looking like he has finally figured out something after years of being a top prospect in the minor leagues.

One aspect of the new baseball year that is a bit odd but nothing to stress too much about is the absence of production from Braves third baseman and former American League MVP Josh Donaldson.

I know it’s only 11 games deep into the season and I’m most likely jumping the gun, but it’s something to be aware of. Donaldson last season only played a combined 52 games due to calf and shoulder issued and did not look like the Donaldson of old. Donaldson slashed .246/.352/.449 with only eight home runs with 23 RBI’s but still was patient with his 31 walks opposed to his 54 strikeouts.

Obviously it’s hard to get goin when you haven’t played consistently all year, speaking of 2018, and have dealt with bullshit injuries just hampering you all year. You also have to consider that even though he was “cleared” to resume baseball activities, you have to understand that those injuries are still probably on the back of his mind. Whether he will admit it or not, I’m sure whenever he would start to get going running, or have a deep grounder at third or even planting his foot to start to throw across the diamond, he might’ve been a little cautious. Not making excuses or putting words in his mouth, but just a thought that maybe he wasn’t as comfortable on the field as he was in times passed. The mind is a powerful thing and people do really under estimate the power it can have on you.

Now we’re in the 2019 season and Donaldson signed a nice ticket with the Braves for one year that fetches him $23 million. It’s a prove it year for the 33 year old and he hasn’t proved much in his Braves uniform so far. Through 33 at bats, Donaldson is slashing .182/.341/.212. That line unfortunately comes with ZERO home runs, ZERO RBI’s, and only one double as his extra base hit. However, on a positive note, Donaldson seems to be seeing the ball well with his 8/10 walk to strikeout ratio. Thus meaning that hopefully it will only be a matter of time before we start to see Donaldson show what earned him his MVP award back in 2015.

So let’s not stress too much like my loser self over here and just wait and relax. Baseball is a long ass season and there are about 151 games left of the season. I’m sure Donaldson will pick it up and hopefully he can stay off the disabled list as well. Stay tuned.