Jake Eder To Make His First Collegiate Start

For those of you who have not been paying attention, it is safe to say this freshman class is pretty good.

In fact, it’s pretty, pretty, pretty good.

In fact, it’s a compilation of Larry David saying “pretty, pretty, pretty good” good.

That actually might be underselling it. Four games into the season, the consensus #1 recruiting class (in which we lost literally no one to the MLB draft) is proving every prospect-head right, and making nearly every major league talent evaluator look foolish. Go ahead and tell the “small sample size” chorus to suck it, as 2018 has been a steaming pile of excrement, and I’m going to cling to anything that provides even a glimmer of happiness like grim death.

Like. Grim. Death.

Let’s break it down:

1. Pat DeMarco is the greatest human alive. Okay, maybe that’s Malala Yousafzai, but she’s not batting .647/.684/.824 (I Googled it to be sure. She’s not.). He seriously looks like peak Paul Molitor, and is a threat to straight up Hamburgle every base in existence. Think Anthony Gomez type base-running.
2. After yesterday’s 4 hit spectacle, Austin Martin is living up to his auto brand namesake’s slogan: Power, Beauty, and Soul. Further, he has been the baseball embodiment of Sean Connery in a DB5 in Goldfinger, batting .500/.545/.900 in three games (2 starts). Though he’s the heir apparent to Connor Kaiser at SS, his bat has forced Corbs to find somewhere to put him in the lineup. At the very least, Corbs has to entertain the idea of platooning him and human rhyme JJ Bleday in the OF, and having Martin DH on off days.
3. Joining those freshmen sensations in the lineup is catcher and 2017 TN POTY Philip Clarke. It will be interesting to see him behind the plate today, as he has been the DH previous games. Clarke is currently “King of the Bloop Single,” as 2 of his 4 hits have plopped softly juuuuuuust past the shortstop’s glove and driven in runs.
4. That said, as Chris Lee said on his podcast, all everyone can talk about is that one foul ball Jayson Gonzalez put into orbit. I get it. He Bo Jackson’d that thing into Bryce Drew’s office. Further, his play at third has been just dandy. Further still, he did this to Julian’s Chinfante:

Here is today’s lineup against the David Przybyszewskibyterian Blue “Trick Love Them” Hose:

But wait, you say, I clicked on this article for Jake Eder and Jake Eder only! Well, I’m getting to that. This freshman class is so damned good, I haven’t even mentioned the arms yet (and won’t have time in this article to talk about Mason Hickman, Reid Schaller, or Hugh “The King” Fisher—all of whom have looked awesome so far). For those who follow baseball recruiting and the MLB Draft, well, none of us expected Jake Eder to make it to campus. Personally, I was shocked when Round 2 came to a close and I had not heard his name. Had to double check. Then, after the Mets took him with pick #1027, we had to wait until August dreading that they’d find a way to throw Scrooge McDuck level coin the big lefty’s way.

As you know, like every member of the 2017 recruiting class, he made it to campus. In a few minutes, we get to see him pitch.

Here is a video from the internet not featuring cats:

See you in the comments (or the game thread if Tom puts one up).