MLB: AL Central Predictions

American League Central

The Vegas projections for this division make a lot of sense. I think this division is the Twins to lose. But Cleveland and Chicago should be close. 

Like the AL East, the Central has a clear favorite and a team which could be playing for a top draft pick. The Detroit Tigers should finish fourth. Vegas has Detroit at 21.5 wins and the Royals at 24.5 wins.

I will predict the Twins to win the division but Cleveland's starting pitching and a few studs in the field should keep them close. The White Sox will be improved and fun to watch but I think they are still a year away because I am not sold on the starting pitching staff outside of Lucas Giolito and Dallas Kuechel.

Prediction of finish with the Vegas win total projections. 

1. Twins (34.5)

2. Indians (33.5)

3. White Sox (31.5)

4. Royals (24.5)

5. Tigers (21.5)

Twins

The Twins should once again hit a bunch of bombs with Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler and Nelson Cruz all back after mashing last year. They also added Josh Donaldson, who is capable of hitting 10-15 dingers, too. 

The starting pitching staff doesn't scream scary, but I love the depth of the options. They can piece together a solid staff with guys like Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi, Kenta Maeda, Homer Bailey, Michael Pineda and Rich Hill.

The bullpen should be better than average with closer Taylor Rogers and Sergio Romo and Tyler Clippard. 

Best chance at MVP - Sano

I have been a big fan of Sano over the past few years. I know he's taken a little bit of time to truly be an MVP guy, but I think he breaks out this year after hitting 34 homers and holding an OPS of .923 in a little more than 100 games a year ago. 

Best chance at Cy Young - Berrios

I don't think they have anyone in the mix for this award, but it will be either Berrios or Odorizzi in my opinion. Odorizzi was slightly better last year, but I will go with Berrios in 2020. 

Need a big season from - Donaldson

The Twins paid big money for Donaldson this offseason. He hit 37 homers and drove in 94 last year and tallied an OPS of .900. If he has that kind of a season again, he will add to an already potent offense. If age catches up to him, the contract will get criticized and the Twins likely won't take a step forward.

Indians

Before I started doing this predictions, I just wasn't sure why anyone had the Indians as a playoff contender. But then you look at the roster and you know why. 

Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez are as good as anyone at their positions and the pitching staff of Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber and Carlos Carrasco should give them a chance to win most games.

I also love what Franmil Reyes can bring to the table.

Best chance at MVP - Lindor

One day I hope the Reds can pull off a blockbuster and sign Lindor to a long-term deal. For now, Lindor will be a favorite in Cleveland. He hit 32 homers, scored 101 runs, stole 22 bases and blasted 40 doubles last year. His 74 RBIs and .854 OPS are solid for his position, too. 

Best shot at the Cy Young - Clevinger

Bieber had 259 strikeouts and that certainly brings attention to it. But Clevinger's ERA was under 3.00 last year and he was 13-4. If he has another sub-3.00 ERA year and gets to 50 strikeouts in a short season, he should be in the mix for the Cy Young. 

Need a big season from - Reyes

I targeted Reyes in my fantasy leagues before the season was postponed. I think he's in for a big year and if he hits, the Indians could push the Twins for the division. 

White Sox

The White Sox are a tough team to predict. If all their stars hit, they could win the division or make the playoffs. If the youngsters are not quite there, they could win 25 games. There's a lot to like though with Yasmani Grandal, Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncado, Tim Anderson, Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert leading the way offensively.

The pitching staff is still a few pieces away in my opinion. But Lucas Giolito was fantastic last year. 

Best chance at MVP - Anderson

I am going to throw a curveball here. It could certainly be Yoan Moncada and Jose Abreu is the obvious choice. But Anderson, as a shortstop, can make waves by putting up similar numbers to last year. He can hit for power, steal some bases and hit .335 last year. 

Best shot at Cy Young - Giolito

Kuechel was just average in Atlanta last year after signing late. Giolito was awesome, finishing with 14 wins, an ERA under 3.50 and 228 strikeouts. He's the only real chance they have a Cy Young.

Need a big season from - Kuechel

With very little known depth to the pitching staff, not having a big offseason signing perform up to his ability would be devastating. The White Sox have no margin for error when it comes to competing with the Twins and Indians and a poor year from Kuechel would not be ideal for the young Sox. 

Royals

On paper, the position players in Kansas City aren't too shabby. I just don't think the pitching staff will be good enough to put them in contention. There's a lot to like though with Whit Merrifield, Jorge Soler, Adalberto Mondesi, Alex Gordon and even Salvador Perez. I hope Bubba Starling makes some kind of impact, too. 

Best chance at MVP - Merrifield

I expect Soler to mash again this summer. But Merrifield is a complete player. He has some pop (16 homers last year), can steal bases (20 last year) and led the league with 10 triples. He also had 40 doubles, 105 runs and batted over .300. 

Best shot at Cy Young - No one

I mean Danny Duffy, Jakob Junis and Mike Montgomery are the top three starters. And none of them had an ERA under 4.00 last year. So it's hard to believe any of them will be in the mix for the Cy Young. 

Need a big season from - Adalberto Mondesi

It's time for Mondesi to take the next step. He tied Merrifield for an AL-best 10 triples last year and stole 43 bases in 102 games. He also had 20 doubles. If he can improve on his .292 OBP, the Royals will be better for it. I don't think they finish better than fourth in this division but an improved Mondesi could push the win total about their projection. 

Tigers

Not much to say with this team. The Tigers, along with the Orioles and a few other teams, will be in the mix for the No. 1 pick. 

There are no MVP candidates on this team anymore. Miguel Cabrera is just getting too old and Jonathan Schoop is a good player but neither will be MVP worthy. CJ Cron, Niko Goodrum and Cameron Maybin are at least guys I have heard of. Which is more than I can say about the Orioles.

The pitching staff is led by Matthew Boyd and Jordan Zimmermann, which tells you all you need to know about the team.

MLB: Season predictions series

The Major League Baseball season will be here before we know it. At least we all hope so.

I need it badly. I can't wait for the first game. I will be locked in. With the season just days away, I am going to start a series of blogs about the year, breaking down each divisions with Vegas betting odds and predictions on postseason awards.

The first series will be the AL East. Here is a breakdown of what you can expect this year.

American League East

The Vegas projections is what I will predict because this division to me is pretty easy. The Yankees are supposed to run away with the division and Baltimore will be one of the worst teams in baseball.

If the Yankees stay healthy, they should cruise. The Rays should be very good and the Red Sox could be above .500, too.

Prediction of finish with the Vegas win total projections. 

1. Yankees (38.5)

2. Rays (34.5)

3. Red Sox (32.5)

4. Blue Jays (26.5)

5. Orioles (20.5)

Yankees

Health is the key to the whole season. With only 60 games. a major injury could be devastating to any franchise. The Yankees haven't been able to full avoid the injury bug in a while. If guys like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and James Paxton can stay healthy, they could win 40 plus games.

The roster is loaded, led by pitching ace Gerritt Cole, closer Aroldis Chapman and every day players Judge, Stanton, Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit.

Best chance at MVP - Torres

Torres has been on the verge of greatness for a few years now. I lean Torres because Judge and Stanton just haven't proven to me they can stay healthy.

Best chance at Cy Young - Cole

No doubt Cole is the ace. And if is as good as he was in Houston last year, he will win the Cy Young. Mostly because he plays for the Yankees and if he pitches that well, New York probably won 42 games.

Need a big season from - Stanton

Yankee fans got a glimpse of what Stanton can do two years ago when he hit 38 homers and drove in 100 runs. But he played just 18 games last year. He needs to be big again this year if the Yankees want to reach full potential.

Rays

The Rays pitching staff was recently voted second best in baseball by the MLB Network team. And looking at the roster, that is the only thing that scares me about this team.

I can't believe they won as many games as they did last year with that roster but it just shows you that "Moneyball" can work if you put together the right pieces.

In a playoff series, throwing Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Charlie Morton out there would spell trouble for most teams.

Best chance at MVP - Austin Meadows

I love Meadows. I drafted him on my fantasy team back in March when we thought we'd get a full season. If the Rays win the 34.5 projected wins or more, he probably had a big year and will be in the mix for the award.

Best shot at the Cy Young - Glasnow

I love Snell. But I think Glasnow is due for a big year. He was 6-1 with an ERA of 1.78 last year in 60 innings. He'll be the No. 2 starter this season and those numbers will get you Cy Young votes when it's over the course of the entire season.

Need a big season from - Nick Anderson

Anderson is the closer for this year's team. And he's got some hype with him. I think he's in for a huge year and if he can close out games consistently playing the tough schedule the Rays will see, it could help close the gap between them and the Yankees.

Red Sox

I could see the Red Sox winning 35 games or 25 games. The talent is there but the pitching staff has a lot of questions to me. Chris Sale is getting up there in age, Nathan Eovaldi has had injury issues and Collin McHugh hasn't been a full time starter since 2016.

Best chance at MVP - Xander Bogaerts

It could realistically be JD Martinez or Rafael Devers, too. But Bogaerts had the highest WAR of the three last year. Bogaerts hit over .300 with 36 homers and 105 RBIs last year. That was his second straight all-star season and if he plays on that level again, he will elevate Boston in the standings and put himself in the mix for the award.

Best shot at Cy Young - Eduardo Rodriguez

Chris Sale is the obvious choice but health concerns have slowed him a bit and his 4.40 ERA was the worst in his career last season.

Rodriguez was 19-6 last with year with an ERA of 3.81. That ERA is not Cy Young worthy but the 213 strikeouts is a good start. If he can keep the Ks up and lower the ERA some, he could be in the conversation.

Need a big season from - Sale

Back to Sale. He was 6-11 last year in 25 starts but his ERA will have to get better if the Red Sox have any chance to challenge the Yankees or Rays.

Can he stay healthy? Is there room for a bounce back year? The Red Sox are paying him a lot of money to be the ace. He'll need to pitch like it this summer.

Blue Jays

I think Toronto is still a few pieces away but it has plenty of talent and some last names most older fans will recognize.

The signing of Hyun-Jin Ryu will either be huge or a dud I figure. If he can pitch like last year, the Jays will be better than the 26.5 win projection Vegas has on them. But Ryu is always hurt so that's an obstacle, too.

Best chance at MVP - Bo Bichette

It could be Bichette. It could be Cavan Biggio or Vlad Guerrero Jr. All three are young studs who should push the Blue Jays into contention in a few years.

I am going with Bichette because  of his ability to hit over .300. He batted .311 with 11 HRs and 21 RBIs in only 46 games last year. His OPS also was .930 in that short span.

Best shot at Cy Young - Ryu

We have seen Ryu do it before. There aren't a lot of other options on the pitching staff. Ryu was fantastic for the Dodgers last year and it got him a big free agent contract. If he wins 6-8 games and has the 2.32 ERA he had last year, that should be good enough to at least put him in the discussion.

Need a big season from - Ken Giles

Teams that are a few pieces away usually find themselves in close games. If the Jays can stay close with the powerhouse teams they'll face in the AL and NL East, Giles will need to be at his best to give them a chance to win enough games to stay close.

Orioles

Not much to say with this team. The Orioles won't be in any discussion except maybe the battle for the No. 1 pick in the draft.

I can't tell you who the best player on the team is. Chris Davis once was but he's had a down year for the past several.

Trey Mancini hit .291 last year with 95 RBIs. That was pretty good.

I also loved Jose Iglesias in Cincinnati last year. Iglesias will be a great addition defensively and he'll do well at the plate with two strikes.

The Orioles won't have any MVP candidates and won't see anyone come close to Cy Young worthy. Not even a big season from one of three mentioned above will move the needle to more than 20 wins.

Figuring out the rules of baseball, softball

I love baseball and softball. I have been covering the sports for about 13 years. But the ins and outs of the games are not black and white. Or at least it doesn't feel that way. 

I still feel like some coaches and fans think that advancing to second on a passed ball or wild pitch goes down as a stolen base in the books. It doesn't.

I saw one school this year had 17 steals for one game on their official stats. That seems like a lot for one game. But I could see 6 steals, 5 advanced on wild pitches and 6 advanced on passed balls. Or any other combination.

Then there is the play when a runner is on third and a player at first gets to second without a throw. That's technically not a stolen base either. That's considered a catcher's or fielder's indifference.

I'm listening to more and more broadcasts of games this summer as my hours have gotten cut and I am told not to attend as many games as I once did.

And in those broadcasts, some folks still say the score wrong. You always say the high score first, even if that score belongs to the team you are not affiliated with. It's never 2-6. It's always 6-2.

On a game I watched last night the announcer said the batter had a two-run single but the play was a ground ball that resulted in a throwing error. That's not a single. Or an RBI. Those two runs scored because the ball was thrown past the first baseman.

Another pet peeve is when I see someone single with a runner on second and the batter gets to second because of a throw home. That's not a double. That's a single with an advancement on throw.

We could debate whether certain plays are hits or errors. And that's the only one we can debate. A lot goes into it, and I will admit that I am harder on players than most. The players are wearing gloves. So the argument that the ball was simply hit too hard is not valid to me.

I will give credit to the defender if they have to move to get to the ball and just didn't. But if you misplay a ball hit at you because it was "hit too hard," it's still an error.

I also learned something this week myself. I was watching a game where a runner was on third and the ball was hit in the infield. The defensive team gave up the run and threw to first but made an error doing so. Because the run would have scored anyway, it is OK to give that batter an RBI despite there being an error.

That is like a fielder's choice RBI or a ground out to the right side that resulted in a run.

All sports have their faults with rules and such.

The block-charge call in basketball is a hot debate these days. The "over the back" call in basketball is a tough one. Even though the rule is actually called "displacement."

In football, we still don't know what a catch is sometimes.

But the sports that allow for the most judgement calls are baseball and softball. Right or wrong, I think we need to be more consistent with the rules. And we need to figure out how to teach the rules to people who still struggle with them.

The other day, I saw statistics online of the same game. One team had itself having seven hits, while the other team had their pitchers giving up three hits. That's a four-hit difference. And the pitching team's pitcher was only charged with one earned run.

So there must have been differences of opinion on whether the hits were hits or errors. But I don't see the difference being four that often.

There are a ton of different examples. I am sure some coaches just aren't sure. But how many others are padding stats for their players?

I would suggest listen to a baseball broadcast on the radio. You can learn a lot about the game by just listening. 

Music motivates me

I was going great. Running or walking most days. Strength training 4-5 days a week.

My gym was back open and things were great. Motivation has never been an issue for me. I love to workout. It's what I do to relieve stress.

My trips to the gym in recent weeks haven't been too consistent because of other responsibilities.

I tried to do an in-home workout on Sunday, but my motivation just wasn't there.

Until I turned on my rock music. Sometimes, it's just good to sit there and let the music motivate you. That's what I did. And I was able to get a great workout in.

Here's what I did for those of you who are struggling to find workouts to do from home.

Super Sets

Jumping Jacks - 3 sets of 25. Squats - 3 sets of 20. Band bicep curls - 3 sets of 25

Wall Sits - 2 sets at 30 seconds. Raise the Roofs - 2 sets at 60 seconds.

Crunches - 3 sets of 25. Scissor Kicks - 2 sets at 30 seconds.  Glute Bridges - 2 sets at 60 seconds.

Planks - 2 sets at 30 seconds. Donkey Kicks - 2 sets at 60 seconds (30 seconds each leg).

High Knees - 2 sets at 60 seconds. Squats into Calf Raises - 2 sets of 20.

Jumping Jacks - 3 sets of 25 with 15 seconds rest in between.

Some of these you may not know. Some you may know. All I do when trying to put together a home workout is, watch a few videos on YouTube. I didn't used to do "Raise the Roofs," "Glute Bridges," "Donkey Kicks" or "High Knees" until seeing them mixed into videos.

And before you laugh, doing "Raise the Roofs" for 60 straight seconds is tough on the shoulders. It's not easy. 2 sets of it is even harder.

My version of high knees are not fast. It's a slow motion high knee basically just standing still. For 60 seconds, it's tough, too.

I was sweating after today's workout. That's all that matters. But I would much rather be in the gym, lifting weights and running on the treadmill. Soon I will get back to that. In the meantime, if I can't get there, these kind of workouts can do the trick.

And look for your motivation. Mine is music most of the time.

I saw someone today say they couldn't run without music. I'm the same guy. I can't do any cardio workouts without music. At least ones that I want to be good. My wireless headphones cost me $10 from Target. I have bought two sets so I have spent $20 on them the past few years. It can be inexpensive to work out if you don't want to pay gym fees.

The music at home is mostly from the free IHeart Radio app that I have on my TV. That's what I use for every workout, but it shifts to the phone and headphones when I am not at home.

Feel free to pass along any workouts you have. I am always looking for new ideas. Just don't include burpees. I don't do burpees.

Athlete A review

Athlete A is Maggie Nichols.

And the Netflix original is a documentary that focuses on the gymnasts who survived USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar's abuse and the reporters who exposed USAG's toxic culture.

It exposes the monster that Nassar is. And it brings to light the awful human being that Steve Penn is. Penn is not as guilty as Nassar but covering it up so he could profit off the gold medals and exposure certainly makes him guilty in a different way.

I used to think Bela and Marta Karolyi were just successful gymnastics coaches who changed USA Gymnastics forever.

Well, they changed it forever. But not in a good way. What I thought was just a demanding style turned out to be a nightmare for all the Olympians under their guidance.

We may never know how much the Karolyi's knew about what Nassar was doing. They certainly knew what the allegations were though.

Nichols came forward in 2015 with allegations against Nassar and the Karolyi's and Penn turned a blind eye to it. That allowed Nassar to most certainly abuse more young girls. The documentary says 500 females have come forward. That's an insane number. And it's probably not even close to the accurate total.

Watching the Kerri Strug clip from when she performed the vault with an injury at the 1996 Summer Olympics. We all thought it was a heroic performance at the time. And it still was. I don't want to take that away from Strug. But she didn't have a choice.

The Karolyis probably didn't think she was even injured. Or didn't care. There wasn't a choice in the matter. Strug had to compete. It was the expectation.

The documentary is extremely well done. And I would recommend it. But it's disturbing. There's no doubt about that.

As a journalist myself, what the Indy Star investigative reporting team did was fantastic. They put in a ton of time on that story and continue to work today to bring out the truth about USA Gymnastics.

The detective who worked on the Nassar case should be commended, too. He was out for blood, and got it. I don't think 60 years is enough, but Nassar at least will likely die in prison.

I feel bad for all the gymnasts and what they went through at a young age. But I feel the worst for Nichols. She had her dream of being an Olympic gymnast taken away from her because she came forward first in 2015.

There is no doubt in my mind that she was left off the Olympic team even as an alternate because of her decision to come forward. Nichols finished higher than Gabby Douglas on the final USA team trial competition and Douglas was picked as one of the five who competed in the Olympics.

Nichols would go on to become a national champion gymnast at Oklahoma. And the Sooners won back-to-back national team titles.

Nichols was every bit as good as the five girls selected to that team in 2016. But Penny, Nassar and the Karolyis denied her the opportunity because they were covering up years of sexual abuse.

It's disgusting. It's disturbing. And it's unacceptable. But it needed to be told.

Two thumbs up.

MLB is back: The DH, runner on second and more

We will have a Major League Baseball season.

A 60 game sprint to the finish. And I am all in. It's MLB baseball. That's all I care about.

Sure, the players and owners pissing match over millions of dollars was ridiculous. And it's likely not the last time we'll deal with something like that in the next few years. But with everything going on around us right now, I sure could use a little distraction.

I am a Cincinnati Reds fan. It would be par for the course if the Reds loaded up on free agent signings and then they didn't have a season. That sounds about right.

But now, with the designated hitter being inserted into both leagues, the Reds could be at a big advantage.

Reds General Manager Dick Williams admitted Wednesday that him and his team of front office guys built the roster with the hopes that the DH would be implemented in the National League at some point.

David Bell has plenty of options. Nick Castellanos was brought in to inject some firepower into the offense and he's a subpar defender. Jesse Winker kills right-handed pitching and is not good against lefties. Phillip Ervin is the opposite. Then there's guys like Joey Votto, Aristides Aquino and Nick Senzel.

I would even consider using relief pitcher Michael Lorenzen as the DH some days. He is built for it and has a sweet natural swing.

There are way too many outfielders on this Reds' roster and having the DH will help fix the issue of finding enough at-bats for guys who are good enough to be in the lineup.

The Reds starting pitching was one of the best in baseball last year. And they added Wade Miley to help with depth. If the offense comes around, the Reds should be in playoff contention.

On the topic of the DH, I have been for this move for the NL for a while now. I get it. The strategy behind it is not as fun. And there are some who think neither league should have it. If that's how they want to go, then I am fine with it. I just think the NL was at a big disadvantage without it.

With it, NL teams can now sign players late in their career who become less viable in the field but can still hit. There's a reason why guys like David Ortiz, Frank Thomas, Edgar Martinez and Harold Baines never signed with players in the NL. There careers went so much farther just being able to hit every day and not worry about the field.

Chicago Cubs fans can now expect Kyle Schwarber to be with the franchise forever if they want him. He is tailor made for the DH and I would guess will be in that spot for Chicago a lot this summer.

The other new wrinkle that will go in effect this season is a runner will start on second base to begin innings when the game goes to extra innings. This is to help limit games that could drift into the 15th and 16th innings. And will help speed up the game in general.

I am not a huge fan of this type of play when the postseason hits, but if it's what we need to see to have a season then I can adjust.

I read something the other day that 60-game schedules are expected to be 40 games within your own division and 20 interleague games against cross-division foes.

For example, the Reds would play 10 games each against the Cardinals, Cubs, Brewers and Pirates and 4 games each against the Royals, White Sox, Indians, Twins and Tigers.

That type of split won't make things even across the board because some divisions are simply better than others. But if they do expanded playoffs, it won't matter too much.

We will have MLB baseball games that count at the end of July. I like the sound of that. Now, if only the Reds can avoid another 1-9 start, I will like it even more. Something tells me Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray and Trevor Bauer won't that happen.

Play ball. Finally.

Catching up some movies

To say my wife and I’s interest in movies are different would be an understatement. We have certainly watched some together, but our taste in movies don’t often line up.

So when my family is out of town, I like to cross off movies that I otherwise wouldn’t watch with them around.

I was able to do that last week. I knocked out a few choices that I have been wanting to see for a while and then viewed a few others that I thought looked good after reading the general descriptions online.

My first trio of films included Just Mercy, The Way Back and The Invisible Man.

All three movies lived up to their high Rotten Tomatoes ratings.

The Invisible Man had a 91 percent rating. And when the movie ended, I tweeted that it was almost a perfect movie. There wasn’t much to nit pick at. It was a fantastic film that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire two hours.

The opening scene of the movie features the female star escaping the house of her boyfriend. It was an abusive relationship that she desperately needed to get out of. Although that part of the story was never told. 

No one believes Cecilia (played by Elisabeth Moss) that her Scientist boyfriend is still alive after faking a suicide and then creating a suit that makes him invisible. She ends up being right and what comes next is her trying to figure out how to finally rid him of her life.

The Way Back, which has an 84 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, stars Ben Affleck as an alcoholic who was once a high school basketball star. He returns to coach his alma mater for one last shot at redemption.

I thought Affleck was brilliant in the lead role. He uses colorful language on the bench and in practice and that’s not taken well by administrators at the private institution.

But Affleck’s character, Jack Cunningham, reaches the team and transforms the program from barely winning a game to playing for a spot in the postseason almost instantly.

Just Mercy is based on a true story about a civil rights defense attorney who fights to free a man who is on death row for a crime he didn’t commit.

Bryan Stevenson is played by Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx plays the innocent Walter McMillian on death row. I was surprised neither actor got any Oscar buzz for their roles. I thought both were great.

Because of the subject matter involving civil rights and racism, Just Mercy can be streamed for free all month.

My next set of films I checked out included Knives Out and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

Both films tested above 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. And both films were fantastic.

Knives Out is funny and entertaining and it makes you think. The plot twists and turns throughout the two-hour, 10-minute film.

The cast also is great as Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Christopher Plummer and Michael Shannon all have key roles.

Craig stars as the detective who investigates the death of a rich grandfather, who is set to give all of his worth to one single person in his life.

If you liked this movie, I have heard a sequel is in the works starring Craig and an entire new cast.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood took a lot of criticism during the early stages because folks were finding out the movie was not all about Mr. Rogers.

Fred Rogers plays a role in the movie, but the main plot revolves around a magazine journalist who gets assigned a fluffy feature story on the iconic family TV star who doesn’t appear to have any flaws.

The journalist spends most of the assignment trying to find something negative about Mr. Rogers and Rogers helps him sew up a poor relationship with his father. The two eventually form a strong bond and become friends.

The other three movies I checked out were Dark Waters, Trauma Center and A Dog’s Journey.

Dark Waters is about a corporate defense attorney who takes on an environmental lawsuit against chemical company DuPont, which exposes a lengthy history of pollution. It stars Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins and Anne Hathaway. 

A Dog’s Journey is the sequel to A Dog’s Purpose. Rotten Tomatoes likes the sequel better. I enjoyed both movies. And Josh Gad is fantastic as the voice of the main dogs in the movie. 

Parts of the movie are not realistic, but it's still fun and entertaining. And Gad makes me laugh as the voice of the main dogs.

Trauma Center is about an injured woman who is alone and trapped in a locked-down floor of a hospital. She must escape a pair of vicious killers who are after the only piece of evidence that can implicate them in a grisly murder, the bullet in her leg.

Bruce Willis stars as the good cop and Nicky Whelan plays the lead female role. 

It’s hard to rank all eight movies. I didn’t hate any of them and would recommend them to other movie goers. 

Trauma Center had the only poor rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but I thought it was better than the rating. I didn’t think Willis was that great in his role though. He seemed to be over acting throughout the movie.