What would the Marvel Cinematic Universe's baseball team look like?
What would Marvel's baseball team look like?
With Ant-Man currently tearing up cineplexes everywhere, and with his upcoming appearance as a key cog in Captain America: Civil War, there is only one question on everyone's mind:
Just how good of a baseball player would Ant-Man be? After all, Scott Lang is a man who does everything full bore. Combine that with his unique abilities to shrink himself at will and communicate with ants, and it takes a moment to find his perfect baseball corollary.
We applied some of baseball's greatest minds to this task. We asked scouts and front office executives, and we created him as a player in our baseball video games. Finally, after an endless quest and some deep soul searching, we figured it out. He would be the second baseman. Though it wouldn't come easily to him.
At first, because of his small stature and out-of-the-box superheroic skills, he'd be considered a bench player by his fellow teammates. "Sure, he's an original Avenger," they'd say, "But, how does that help us win games?"
He would soon force himself into the lineup with his 80-grade hustle and continued excellent play. With surprising pop and a slick glove, Ant-Man would confound umpires and enrage pitchers with his ability to get on base. That success is largely due to Ant-Man's Pym Particles, which let him size up or down and make it impossible for pitchers to pound a consistent strike zone.
However, Ant-Man would have to watch out. He was once warned about instructing his ants to create bad hops on his weak grounders, turning certain outs into seeing-eye singles through the middle of the field. But he's promised he won't do that again.
Ant-Man would very much be a Dustin Pedroia-type player, an all-out grinder who is a constant pest for opposing pitchers and defenses. And this is his probable Statline:
.285/.390/.440, 15 HR, 66 RBI, 100 BB, 40 SO
Of course, once we answered this question, we knew we had no choice but to see how the Marvel Cinematic Universe would line up. While Phil Coulson would man the infield for the SHIELD team, here's how the Mighty Marvel-ites would field their squad:
P - Captain America
Cap has plenty of experience throwing his shield around, something that would probably come in handy when on the mound, and he's a natural leader who you'd want holding the ball in a big situation. Of course, his shield throwing means that his pitching mechanics are a little wonky, but thanks to the super soldier serum, scouts don't believe he's at too big a risk for Tommy John surgery.
Comparable Player: Corey Kluber
Statline: 18-6, 2.82 ERA, 237 IP, 182 SO, 42 BB
C - Vision
With his robot brain, the Vision can run through thousands of scouting reports and pitch sequencing patterns every second, running constant simulations for every game situation that may come up. That will make him an excellent on-field captain, helping position the infield, while also serving as an amazing game-caller. Even better, by being a robot, his pitch framing would be perfect as he could accept the ball smoothly every time.
His cerebral approach would certainly help at the plate, but his lack of aggressiveness would lead to limited run production.
Comparable Player: Russell Martin
Statline: .275/.355/.450, 16 HR, 71 RBI, 85 BB, 60 SO
1B - Hulk
With all that aggression and brick-like hands, Hulk isn't exactly a Gold Glove first baseman. (After all, where could they even find gloves that would fit). But the team really doesn't mind, given that he more than makes up for it at the plate.
An enormous slugger with a mighty swing, Hulk can drive the ball further than almost anyone. Of course, his blind rage means that it's incredibly rare for him to ever draw a walk and his anger means he'll get tossed for arguing lots of close calls.
Comparable player: Dave Kingman
Statline: 450 PA, .249/.305/.600, 45 HR, 120 RBI, 40 BB, 180 SO
SS - Black Widow
A late bloomer after her key years of development were actually spent as a Russian assassin, Black Widow's agility, speed and killer instinct help her greatly from the shortstop position. A true five-tool talent, Black Widow will make some of the most absurd defensive plays look easy and will intimidate baserunners into not even running towards second base.
At the plate, she may not have a lot of home run power, but she's a gap-to-gap hitter with a high average and patient eye.
Comparable player: Barry Larkin
Statline: .320/.380/.440, 10 HR, 65 RBI, 85 BB, 70 SO
3B - Hawkeye
No one dares bunt anywhere near Hawkeye, who will field the ball and make a strong throw from almost any angle.
Though he's not as strong as some of his superpowered teammates, Hawkeye is no slouch at the plate either. The skills that make him an expert marksman help him pick up the spin on the ball and he's an effective all-fields hitter.
Comparable player: Matt Carpenter
Statline: .285/.375/.415, 8 HR, 55 RBI, 85 BB, 100 SO
LF - Iron Man
Powerful and athletic, Iron Man has more than enough bat to man left field and the athletic chops to helps him close down on any fly ball. Unfortunately, Iron Man is a bit like Ted Williams -- most of his time in the field is spent working on his swing or chatting up the fans in the outfield stands.
At the plate, few hitters are as dangerous and his analytic mind (and helpful tips from JARVIS), ensure that Tony Stark's mechanics are never too far out of whack.
Comparable player: Hanley Ramirez
Statline: .290/.345/.510, 35 HR, 110 RBI, 75 BB, 120 SO
CF - The Falcon
RF - Thor
With massive, rippling muscles and a swing that can bring the rain, Thor terrifies batters whenever he steps to the plate. He's also a great success story from the team's Minor League development system as he went from small and mild-mannered doctor Donald Blake to the enormous, Asgardian god.
While Thor has a great throwing arm, his range is right field is merely average as he's not allowed to bring Mjolinir into the outfield.
Comparable player: Giancarlo Stanton
Statline: .280/.370/.600, 45 HR, 125 RBI, 90 BB, 170 SO
RP - Scarlet Witch
With reality-shaping powers, who better to have in the back of the bullpen? After all, with a well-placed magical breaking ball, that two-run deficit is quickly turned into a two-run victory and everyone is back in the clubhouse eating snacks.
Though a bit home run prone when she makes a mistake, it's rare for batters to ever make enough contact for it to be much of a problem.
Comparable player: Andrew Miller
Statline: 3-2, 43/45 SV, 75 IP, 1.85 ERA, 116 SO, 35 BB
Team Outlook:
With talent like that, the team would be expected to easily smash the MLB record of 116 wins in a single season. Unfortunately, the team would also see its starters constantly miss time when they were called away to protect reality from a Chituari attack or Thanos looking to bring death to the universe. Not to mention the DL days that the players would need following such an attack. So, while there is more than enough talent to win every World Series for all eternity, they would likely be similar to the Atlanta Braves of the '90s: Always successful, but with baseball's greatest prize just eluding them.