Mike Kurland
@Mike_Kurland
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Playing time is King 👑 | I run — ( @mlbplayingtime ) | Formerly @TheAthleticFS and @FantasyPros | 2x @FSWA finalist
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The Marlins suck
But don’t worry. The assistant GM has time to do whatever the fuck this is
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#DBacks
Corbin Carroll hurt his shoulder on 7/6 of last year on this swing
His numbers since:
- 425 PA with just 8 HR but 38 SBs
- .259/.345/.395
- .327 wOBA
- 105 wRC+
- 34.6% hard hit%
- 5.4% barrel%
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#Phillies
J.T. Realmuto stayed in the game but this just hurt to watch.
He was down for a bit. He was given plenty of time to recover and rightfully so.
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This flyout for
#Royals
Hunter Renfroe was a home run in 29 of 30 parks.
Good ol' Baltimore special
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Among all players with at least 400 PA last season only ONE ranked top 50 in all three of these:
- Top 50 in Contact%
- Top 50 in Hard Hit%
- Top 50 in Barrel%
That would be none other than
#Padres
Juan Soto
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Not sure why the
#Mets
called up Mark Vientos to not prioritize playing him daily.
In minors this year
- 13 HR
- .333 BA
- 1.104 OPS
vs RHP in minors this year
- 11 HR
- .327 BA
- 1.105 OPS
Guess when you can get Vogelbach and his .721 OPS in there vs RHP you make it happen.
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Some personal news!
I’m excited to announce I’m going to be joining contributing fantasy baseball content to
@TheAthleticFS
.
I am beyond thankful for this opportunity. I cannot thank you all enough for the support over the years.
Here’s my debut article⬇️
We are incredibly excited to welcome
@Mike_Kurland
to The Athletic for the 2022 draft kit. He has done fantastic, totally unique work with lineup tracking and analysis. Follow him! He's going to be huge when people see what he does:
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I like the
#Mariners
addition of Canaan Smith-Njigba
- Working at Driveline this offseason
- 15HR/21SB with .371 wOBA and 110 wRC+ at AAA in 2023
- Very small sample in MLB but able to barrel the ball well in few looks
- max EV of 111.8 mph in AAA
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Takeaways from
#Orioles
Jack Flaherty's start
- +1.2 mph on the FF velo
- Big bump in cutter usage. 28% in this start and that was a season high. It had -2.2 mph on it but with 4 more inches of V-Mov. It took the place of the slider (5% usage) and had a 57% whiff%
- The slider…
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Since moving up the order on 6/3,
#Nationals
Lane Thomas is hitting:
- .412/.474/.765
- .524 wOBA
- 240 wRC+
- BB% of 10.5% and K% of 15.8%
- 3 HR and 17 combined R + RBI over these 8 games
- 6 multi-hit games
- 10.7% barrel%
- 50% HH%
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#Royals
Bobby Witt Jr. since moving into the 3-spot in the order on 5/17:
26 games and 108 PA
- 5HR and 5 SBs
- .286/.333/.561
- .379 wOBA
- 148 wRC+
- .276 ISO
- 22.2% K%
- 50% Hard hit%
- 11.8% Barrel%
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#WhiteSox
Luis Robert Jr. left tonight's game injured.
He comes up limping rounding 1st base in the 9th inning on this double.
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#SFGiants
Jung Hoo Lee with a 109.7 mph home run (418ft). Was a HR in 29/30 parks
Guess which park it wasn’t a home run in 😂
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Top 10 hitters in barreled breaking balls:
1. Shohei Ohtani: 28
2. Austin Riley: 22
3. Giancarlo Stanton: 22
4. Adam Duval: 21
5. Pete Alonso: 21
6. Bryce Harper: 21
7. Tyler O'Neill: 20
6 tied for 8th with 19: Donaldson, Bichette, Tatis Jr., Goldschmidt, Devers & Renfroe
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Since returning to the leadoff spot on May 27th (13 games),
#Padres
Jurickson Profar is hitting:
- .370/.433/.556
- 2 HRs and 24 combined runs and RBI
- 6 multi-hit games
- 10% BB% and 18.3% K%
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#Royals
Maikel Garcia with a possible change in approach this year
In 2023 played 123 games with 515 PA
- Just 2 pull-side barrels
- Only 34 pulled fly balls & line drives
- Only 4 HRs
In 2024 through only 5 games
- He already has 3 pull-side barrels
- 3 pulled fly balls & line…
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This is why
#MNTwins
risk putting Byron Buxton in centerfield.
An absolute stud with the glove. This catch was insane.
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#Reds
Joey Votto since returning from the IL:
47 PA
3 HR - .289/.426/.711
9 of his 11 hits have been extra base hits
wOBA: .475
wRC+: 202
BB%: 17%
K%: 19.1%
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Here’s a way to track and monitor the
#SpringTraining
lineups for 2021
-Each team - each game
-Color coded for ease (once we have info)
-Each player has their fangraphs page linked, click to be redirected
-All my Twitter thread notes
#LineupTakeaways
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#BlueJays
Matt Chapman has 51 barrels — 5th most in baseball but only had 15 HR
The issue: 39 of those 51 barrels (76.47%) are hit either straightaway or opposite field so the lack of power production being called “bad luck” is not exactly bad luck
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Some personal news. Those who’ve followed me for a while have known about my struggles with certain aspects of my life (mostly with my health and bettering myself) but I’ve made major strides & I’m proud of where I’m at. Wanted to share my little story & the changes I’ve made ⬇️
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Statcast notes from
#OpeningDay
ARI: Zac Gallen velo notably down. -1.8 on 4 seamer, -2.4 on knuckle curve and -2.5 on changeup
BOS: B. Bello with a pitch mix change and velo uptick
CIN: W. Benson had 3 hard hit balls but only went 1-4. Encouraging.
CHC: S. Suzuki only went…
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@Ken_Rosenthal
@ctrent
I’ll read this but ZERO chance India has to worry about playing time. How is this the title? Lol
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#Rangers
Wyatt Langford just missed his first homerun just to stumble rounding 2nd base going for a triple.
He ended up being out on the play.
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After a lot of thought I decided to continue being all in on my niche and launching a solo site in 2024
- Spring Training and in-season lineup coverage & analysis
- Platoons
- Lineup Trends
- Playing time, performance trends, & more
Oh and no more paywall. Site coming soon ✌🏻
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Put
#SFGiants
Brett Wisely on your watch list
- Only player not named Brandon Crawford to start at SS for Giants this spring
- Giants lack depth at SS/MI
- 15 HR/ 32 SB across 2 levels last season
- Solid plate discipline
- Played SS/2B/3B last year
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Live look at Anthony Rendon working on a plan to get on the IL as soon as possible
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And he’s on the board.
#STLCards
Victor Scott II with a stolen base his first time reaching the bases today
This isn’t fair.
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In his VERY limited sample,
#Orioles
Heston Kjerstad managed a:
- 19% barrel%
- 52.4% hard hit%
In MiLB he had a:
- 113.5 mph max EV (further showing us the power potential)
- 43.2% hard hit%
- 41.9% sweet spot%
There are playing time questions but I like Kjerstad for 2024
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@fuzzyfromyt
Michael Lorenzen in 2018 had 4 HR with a 172 wRC+ in 34 PA
With a 3.11 ERA over 81 IP
STUD
Seriously though be was serviceable. Always rooted for him lol
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#Mariners
J.P. Crawford since moving to the leadoff spot on 5/10:
- .270/.333/.392
- .321 wOBA
- 109 wRC+
- 2 HR/ 13 R/ 8 RBI over 81 PA
- Good plate discipline
- Ton of contact (91.3% Z-contact%)
- 45% hard hit% but only 3.3% barrel%
- Elevating the ball well. Only 33.3% GB%
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#Dodgers
Gavin Stone due for regression
- Only a 56.5% LOB%
- 6.14 ERA with a 3.57 xERA, 2.18 FIP, 3.71 xFIP, and a 3.89 SIERA
- Has only allowed 1 barrel through 3 starts
- 17.2% SwStr% and 39% O-Swing% should lead to more K’s
A lot to like here
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#MNTwins
Royce Lewis left injured after this play. The injury appeared to occur as he rounded 2nd and limped into 3rd
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Imagine not voting Gary Sheffield into the hall of fame
Who else hits dingers in his 50’s while smoking a cigar? Your favorite hall of famer could never
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#Reds
Christian Encarnacion-Strand was hit by a pitch on 4/27 (video below).
X-rays were negative and he was DTD and missed a handful of games.
They found the fracture today and now will miss 4-6 weeks per reports.
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My first time ever putting out content into a magazine. Pretty cool. You should check it out.
Yes. I’m totally bias.
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@jasrifootball
@MarkMaske
This just in: Nick Chubb is faking his injury. Nothing to see here
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I have entered the 250’s for the first time since 2016 — 258 lb this AM
2022 has been life changing and I cannot wait to see what I can do in 2023 as I build on the personal success I’ve experienced — even beyond the weight loss
By my birthday in May I’m aiming for 225-ish
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@JeffPassan
The
#Braves
scored a total of 8 runs in the 4 games of this series
5 of those 8 came in a single game (their lone win of the series)
2 runs or less (including getting shutout in game 1) in the other 3 of 4
You can only blame the pitching so much when the offense didn’t hit
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Excited to announce I’m joining
@FantasyPros
for the 2023 Fantasy Baseball season
I’m still with The Athletic. Fantasy Pros will be another place you’ll be seeing my content going forward.
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Well, COVID Finailly hit home. My mom had about 4-5 days of feeling like shit. She’s passed it now but got tested and she’s positive for COVID. She’s doing well (thankfully) but this is just your daily reminder to please wear a fucking mask. Thank you.
Yours truly,
Sleepy K
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Always puts me on tilt when I see a team score a ton of runs and my player on my fantasy team is the 0-5 guy
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Big/notable changes from
#Nationals
Josiah Gray so far in 2023:
- Pitch mix change: More sliders/curves/cutters and A LOT less 4-seam.
- Leading with the slider (33.6%) and curve (25.3%) in terms of usage - good because his fastballs still get hit
- Utilizes 4 pitches >= 14.7%
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@NateSilver538
Do you even watch baseball? This is actually a very compelling World Series and the teams that made it are just such a wild twist that adds to it
Sorry it’s not your shitty cookie cutter outcome.
You bum.
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Max Fried: 6 no-hit innings with 7K (100 pitches). Didn’t get a W.
Bryce Miller: 7 IP just 2 hits and 1 ER with 10K. Didn’t get the W.
James Paxton: 5 IP with 6 hits, 5 walks, and 4 ER allowed gets the W.
Wins are random and maddening at times.
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Playing time notes from first week of the 2024 season
ARI: Jake McCarthy is in with Alek Thomas out. Strong-side platoon. Blaze Jordan on weak-side platoon
ATL: J. Kelenic (strong-side)/ A. Duvall (weak-side) in a platoon. T. d'Arnaud getting all the run at C with Murphy out.…
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#Dodgers
Josiah Gray is someone to watch in 2021
- Plus fastball he can locate well, has run and can generate swing-and-miss
- 4 pitch mix he worked on at Alt Site - slider is go-to secondary
- Repeatable mechanics
- Said to be competitive
- Good control and command
Cont. ⬇️
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The Guardians are that fantasy team in 8th place suddenly bidding on players after not bidding or even setting their lineup for a month but decide they want to go for it down the stretch
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An intro to the new site:
- It's purpose
- The type of content on there
- What is in the works
The goal is simple. To be the best resource for coverage of MLB playing time out there.
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That moment you see your article featured on the home page of the app in the
@TheAthleticMLB
section of the site.
I’m so excited, overwhelmed, and just grateful to be a part of this site and team. Still feels unreal. Thank you all for the ongoing support over the years.
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Just found out that I’m being let go from
@TheAthleticFS
as a freelance writer.
It’s been a fun ride. Awesome experience and forever grateful to
@nandodifino
for the opportunity to write for a site I always aspired to write for when I started out
Without Nando and The Athletic…
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A look at
@Reds
Nick Castellanos
Clear mechanical change from 2019 vs 2020
-Different pre-swing bat movement
-Smaller/ quicker step
-Hands slightly lower
Changes Noted (Thread):
-LA: 18.4 degrees
-Barrel%: 21.7
-Sweet Spot%: 56.5%
-GB%: 30.4-career low
-Pull%: 43.5-career high
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#Pirates
had Henry Davis working on his catching this offseason and he went the Driveline
They brought in Grandal and even Grandal acknowledged how important their growth at catcher was. Grandal’s comment if already having his career stood out to me
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I’m BEYOND fortunate to find success lately in the industry
What many may not know is it came after a couple years of failed concepts, being passed on by sites I’ve applied to & a VERY slow start w/ the pod
Let it motivate you, not hold you back. I have more to offer & prove
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Stacast Notes from 3/31
ATL: Chris Sale had a small velocity increase. +1 mph on the four-seamer and +1.6 mph on the slider.
BOS: Jarren Duran was 0-fer but had three hard-hit batted balls. Be patient here.
DET: Jack Flaherty led with his slider (46% usage) and had a good…
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I think we take for granted how good a healthy Ronald Acuña Jr really is.
STUD
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10 players have at least 10 batted balls >= 100 mph
M. Chapman: 13
V. Guerrero Jr.: 12
Jordan Walker: 12
Bryan Reynolds: 11
P. Goldschmidt: 11
Jorge Soler: 10
R. Acuña Jr.: 10
Yandy Diaz: 10
Mike Trout: 10
Bo Bichette: 10
But are they just hitting it hard on the ground
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#Mets
Max Scherzer trying to utilize the new rules to his advantage but this is a balk
Announcers stated it is a balk because he was not set (which he was) and hitter did not look up
Hitter is in the box, Scherzer is set, and the ump gave the signal. So hitters need to look up?
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As of now there are only 9 players who have a combination of:
- at least 5 SBs
- at least 5 HRs
- hitting at least .250
They are:
Shohei Ohtani
Jean Segura
Luis Robert
Dansby Swanson
Bryce Harper
Jazz Chisholm
Tim Anderson
Manny Machado
Julio Rodriguez
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New FREE
#FantasyBaseball
Tool!
Search by:
-Lineup spot (overall or vs LHP/RHP)
-Team, Player or Date
-Stats paired w/ where someone hit in the lineup over range of dates
-Updated in-season (only includes 2021 for now)
-MY lineup projections coming soon!
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#Royals
Maikel Garcia makes it 3 home runs - and a stolen base - on the season already.
He only hit 4 home runs last year.
Early approach change has helped the power play up so far. It will be interesting to see if he can keep it up.
His first combo meal of 2024 ⬇️
#Royals
Maikel Garcia with a possible change in approach this year
In 2023 played 123 games with 515 PA
- Just 2 pull-side barrels
- Only 34 pulled fly balls & line drives
- Only 4 HRs
In 2024 through only 5 games
- He already has 3 pull-side barrels
- 3 pulled fly balls & line…
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I wrote a Twitter thread. Then realized it would be too long. No one asked for this but I decided to share it anyway.
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2 players I am projecting to breakout in 2023:
- Andrew Vaughn
- Lars Nootbaar (who isn't at this point)
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My projected leadoff hitters for all 30 MLB teams entering 2024 (another long post):
NL West
ARI: Corbin Carroll
COL: Charlie Blackmon (vs RHP) TBD vs LHP. Lean Tovar but early trends suggest otherwise. Bouchard has led off vs LHP all spring but in lineups with backups so it's…
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This HR will go down in history for the Fantasy Baseball community.
Will be a tough moment to beat.
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#Cardinals
Dylan Carlson since returning from the IL on 6/10:
.288/.394/.542
.400 wOBA
163 wRC+
14.1% BB%
19.7% K%
10 of 17 hits were extra base hits
Changes?
- Improvement in both the HH% & Barrel%
- Big improvement on the GB% (⬇️11%)
- LD% up from 17.6% to 26.1%
- Less chasing
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#Padres
Eric Hosmer made a notable batting stance/swing change.
VERY small sample:
-LA: 29.3
-Yet to hit a ground ball
-Pre-swing: Less foot movement & bat is no longer straight up (Vid⬇️)
-Appears he added a slight crouch & is just slightly more open
Buying in.
#FantasyBaseball
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#Rays
Amed Rosario is a spring training standout early on
In his first 21 PA:
.381/.381/.762
wOBA: .490
wRC+: 200
2HR/2SB
- He’s played 3 positions (2B/SS/OF)
- He went to Driveline this offseason
He could force his way into a more regular role
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#Cubs
Brennen Davis
6’4 - 175 lbs
-Quick, compact swing
-Fast hands/ bat
-Not a lot of loft. Should allow for good contact through the zone
-Swing should help cut down on holes in the zone w/ his size
-Frame should fill out more
Really like what I see!
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#Tigers
Javier Báez has made changes in his profile:
- ⬇️ chasing
- ⬆️ contact all around (in & out of zone)
- K% & BB% gains
Due for some regression
- 0 Barrels (8% in 2022)
- .276 BABIP (no obvious issues causing this)
Notable change
Left: end of 2022
Right: late April 2023
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If Myles Straw does in fact bat 9th in the lineup after all the talk of him leading off, some might say this the last Straw
I’ll see myself out
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#Padres
Fernando Tatis Jr. max exit velo by year
2019: 115.9 mph
2020: 113.4 mph — short season
2021 116.6 mph
2023: 113.4 mph — coming off lost season, surgeries, etc
2024: 116.7 mph — healthy again. Full, typical offseason. I think he’s back.
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Mike Kurland diagnosed with fractured hopes and dreams
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Today marks 4 months since beginning my changes. I’ve been reflecting on it this morning. I realized that my focus of creating new/better SUSTAINABLE habits has been the difference this time around and will be why I will succeed now and in the long term.
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I’ve struggled with weight issues for roughly a decade now. Lose some weight just to gain more. I’ve hit my breaking point & woke up 6 days ago deciding to make a change. I’d like to share my journey as I work to better myself as well as launching a new project:
@OpenMikeK
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