• New York Yankees – Eight losses in a row (60-64 record overall)
• Chicago White Sox – Seven losses in the last 10 games (49-75)
• Los Angeles Angels – 5-13 in August (61-64)
• St. Louis Cardinals – Four losses in the last five games (55-70)
• San Diego Padres – 4-10 in last 14 (59-66)

There’s a lot to discuss and word will fail to describe the letdown some of these teams have produced. But, it’s worth a try.

The Dog Days of August

New York Yankees

There are a lot of places to start with a team that was expected to compete for the World Series. Their team batting average is .230 which is second-worst in baseball behind only the hapless Oakland A’s. Only two batters have an OPS+ over 100 and only three active batters have one over 90. The rotation has only one pitcher with an ERA+ over 100. With one of the largest payrolls, .500 ball would be a disappointment; they are four games below the .500 mark. However, let’s look at the top-down of this team.

The Yankees at this point have all but given up. To be fair, with the front office doing nothing, the team has followed suit. The Yankees weren’t a playoff team before the trade deadline and the message that was sent was that there wasn’t going to be an effort to improve otherwise. Aaron Boone, their manager is starting to run out of excuses. Typically, he’ll say that they need to play better. The problem is, he says that after every loss. It’s getting old, like the antics that get him ejected and the roster that suits up on a daily basis.

This team is destined to finish below .500, something the Yankees haven’t done since 1992. It creates an offseason ahead where change will be demanded. Not just from the roster, but an overhaul of the franchise. This season was years in the making and now, the Yankees have to pay the price and start rebuilding from the top all the way down.

Chicago White Sox

What particularly hurts about the White Sox’s awful season is the wasted year Luis Robert is having. He is playing at an MVP level, slashing .270/.325/.563 with 33 home runs and 252 total bases along with a 4.7 WAR. Yet, his remarkable year almost goes unnoticed.

This in part is because of the rest of the team which is bad to put it lightly. The rotation entered the season with high hopes but a combination of underachievers and lack of depth left it in shambled. The lineup outside is Robert had one bat that provided power (Jake Burger, who was traded) but now there are only two active hitters with 10 home runs or more in the lineup. The team collectively can’t field, a problem amplified by power hitters (who are struggling at the plate) playing in the field every day.

The White Sox, while disappointing, have an avenue to contention. This year has made the future look bleak but there are a few things to look forward to. The core, which has been a letdown, is young, as five everyday players are 29 or younger. The other bright spot is playing in a division that is there for the taking any given year as the American League Central Division is the weakest in baseball. The White Sox have been awful this year and look at times like a minor league roster but at least for them, there is hope.

Los Angeles Angels

They made the bold decision to keep Shohei Ohtani and not trade him. On top of that, the Angels bought in, acquiring Lucas Giolito, Mike Moustakas, and Reynaldo Lopez ahead of the trade deadline. Yet, they got worse, winning only five games after signaling they were going all-in (making the Yankees’ decision to do nothing seem defensible).

Call the Halos cursed. Maybe this is a sign that they will never win. Maybe this was by design. The bottom line is that the Angels look like a franchise heading nowhere and their one hope to avoid that, was by possibly trading Ohtani, who is no longer available. Sure, they can re-sign him but this is a team that despite having a generational talent (two actually) that can’t reach the postseason. The best move would have been to trade him for a surplus of prospects and try to field a competitive team down the road but now, they have no path towards competitiveness.

St. Louis Cardinals

The irony is that the Cardinals have a good lineup this year. They average 4.61 runs per game and have a handful of batters putting together strong seasons. Unfortunately, being awful on the mound and in the field has given them their worst season of this century.

Almost every game the Cardinals play feels like a 6-2 or 7-3 one that they’ll cruise to a victory with. Then, they’ll allow a few runs in one frame, a lot of runs in another frame, and lose 10-6 or 11-7. The pitching can’t hold a lead from their rotation to their bullpen and even worse, their fielding makes any ball put in play, a likely rally builder for the opposition.

The Cardinals this year oddly reminds me of the San Francisco Giants last year. Specifically, one issue created a chain reaction that made them a hapless team. With the Cardinals, the pitchers pitch to contacts which requires a good field behind them to make the pitchers formidable. The pitching looks worse because of the fielding and with the shift ban, the fielding is easy to scrutinize this year. It makes every loss deflating and a season that looked confusing at first is now shaping up to be a symptom of a poorly designed club.

San Diego Padres

It’s crazy to think that Xander Bogaerts was seen by many as the missing piece, the player that would take the Padres and put them over the top. Beogarts in his defense has been playing well, slashing .265/.339/.395 and compiling a 2.5 WAR but it’s the depth, which was an issue entering the season that has been exploited.

The Padres have a top-heavy roster. The problem is when Juan Soto goes through a slump or Fernando Tatis Jr. deals with an injury, the team both relies on the stars to do too much and asks the depth, which isn’t there to step up. Gary Sanchez had to be brought in just to add stability to the lineup and the catcher position. Rich Hill, at 43 years old, was acquired at the trade deadline to add reinforcements to the rotation. Manny Machado has been asked to be a top-five player in the league, especially with the pile-up of injuries, he’s not even a top-five player on his team (he’s seventh in WAR for those keeping track).

Like the Yankees, they have invested in a team where .500 ball should be considered a disappointment. They are seven games below .500 and six games out of a wild card spot. Like the Angels, they are a team that can be seen as cursed and similarly, could have traded away key players like Blake Snell to plan for the future. However, they are left with a team that is overpriced and heading nowhere.

For the Padres, the future seems non-existent in large part because they went all-in this year and many people saw this roster as the one to win the World Series. Now, the clock is ticking on Soto, who becomes a free agent in a few years. Snell is a free agent this winter. Josh Hader, who remains one of the best relievers in the game, is approaching free agency soon as well. The Padres wasted a year they couldn’t afford to waste and the uphill battle to return to a competitive state got steeper.

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Here’s another thing to think about, how many trades have the Yankees made in recent years that have worked out in their favor? Getting Anthony Rizzo from the Chicago Cubs, sure. Landing Clay Holmes from the Pittsburgh Pirates also helped. After that, you start to stretch your head a bit and this leads to the next problem with the Yankees. They have not upgraded significantly via the pipeline or a big deal in a long time and it’s showing now.

This team is bad. They have an above .500 record at 59-56 but their last-place position in the American League East Division is more indicative of where they are. This has been years in the making, a compilation of poor decisions and a bad philosophy for team building. The Yankees have to look at a receipt for years of poor mover that leave them on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.

Yankees Ran It Back. Big Mistake

There were two ways to look at last season. The first way of seeing it was that they were on the doorstep of winning the pennant. They had a powerful lineup and a deep rotation and easily won the division. It was easy to think they would be able to do it again this year and if they added a piece or two, they could compete for the World Series.

The other way of seeing last season was that it was their best chance and it would be all downhill from there. Aaron Judge had one of the greatest hitting seasons in American League history and the roster for the most part was healthy. Having a lot go right didn’t seem likely for another year in a row.

General manager Brian Cashman saw it as the former. They were close and ready to take that next step despite underlying issues with the team. The decision he made was to run it back with the same team. The problem is that the same team is one year older and slightly slower at the plate. Giancarlo Stanton is 33 and a free swinger, DJ LeMehieu is 34 and a slap hitter on a good day, and Josh Donaldson is 37 and a shell of himself (not like it matters, he’s injured).

The result of running it back is what the Yankees are this year. Their lineup has been awful. Without Judge in it, the Yankees might have the worst batting order in baseball. Is this an exaggeration? Possibly but considering these stats. Judge has a .284 Batting Average, the team average is .232 which is the second worst in baseball. Take away the Yankees’ best hitter and only two batters in the lineup have an OPS+ over 100. This team has not only looked bad but the results reflect it.

The Same Philosophy Continues to Doom Them

The Yankees have always been built on power as a franchise. It’s been their blueprint for success and has helped them win 27 World Series titles (short fences help too).

The problem is that this team has leaned too far into their power. The lineup assembled has more than enough power and not nearly enough contact and plate discipline. It’s left the Yankees with a team that easily strikes out at the plate and particularly struggled with offspeed pitches out of the zone. All the opposition needs to do to limit the lineup is bring in a pitcher that doesn’t rely on the fastball and is willing to get the batter to chase, which isn’t a hard thing to do.

Moreover, the Yankees haven’t learned their lesson from the 2021 team. That year, they had too many right-handed bats in their lineup and there wasn’t a lefty slugger to break things up. It allowed teams to bring in a reliever that could attack them with angles, specifically a right-handed pitcher that could make them swing and miss. Once again, the Yankees have fallen into a similar plight.

Where The Yankees Go From Here

The Yankees aren’t firing Brian Cashman, that’s not happening. For as much as Cashman’s stumbled recently, the job is his until he doesn’t want to operate the team anymore. The question is how this season plays out and how it affects the team in the long haul.

The best hope is that the Yankees can make a push for the postseason but then what? They can backdoor their way into a wild card spot but what does that do? In all likelihood, the Yankees reaching the playoffs will mean they play a competent opponent early on and suffer a quick playoff exit. If they make it though, what does that mean for the future, does that convince Cashman to run it back again? The fans can only hope otherwise.

The bottom line is that the Yankees need an overhaul regardless of how this season plays out. They need more youth, speed, and contact in their lineup. They need more plate discipline and the ability to get runners on base. They need batters who when runners are in scoring position, can make decent contact. The Yankees need to change their identity and this season has been a case in point as to why.

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This Week in Baseball: The Trade Deadline Looms!

Ohtani Isn’t Traded: Seems Like A Wise Move Right Now

The Los Angeles Angels made the biggest headline this week with the decision to not move Shohei Ohtani. The presumable MVP in the American League and a pending free agent at the end of the season won’t be traded for a big haul. Instead, the Angels are trying to make a push for the postseason and more importantly, make the case that he should remain in Orange County.

The move sent a message to the roster and all of baseball. Sure the Angels aren’t in playoff position at the moment with a 55-51 record but they are willing to do whatever it takes to snap the nine-year postseason drought. The decision paid off in the short term that goes without saying. Ohtani had himself a week. He pitched a scoreless outing against the Detroit Tigers in the first game of a doubleheader and then homered twice in the second game. To start off the weekend strong, he hit a home run against the Toronto Blue Jays for his 39th of the season.

Since announcing that Ohtani wouldn’t be moved, the Angels have gone 4-2 which is good but the question is how far their best player can take them. If Mike Trout returns and the pitching additions from the week strengthen the rotation, the Angels can get hot. The problem they face is that Ohtani, while incredible, can only impact the game so much. He can give the team a chance to make the postseason but that’s not a guarantee with how the American League standings are shaping up. Say the team does reach the postseason, just barely, is that enough to call the season a success? Specifically, if they reach the wild card, and lose the series, can they still convince the star to stay? It’s an unknown that makes the next few months all the more exciting.

That leads to the other question. Was it a good idea to keep Ohtani and not trade him in the long term? If the Angels, who are still four games out of a wild card spot, miss the postseason, it will be another disappointing year with him and a reminder that even the best players can’t propel a team to the playoffs.

It makes you wonder if the Angels managed to receive a haul for him and the surplus of young prospects helped form a well-rounded roster, that the team would be off for success for years to come. The bottom line is that we’ll never know. Instead, this team is going all in on Ohtani and will make the postseason with him or without him and then this offseason will try to do what they can to keep him.

Mets Trade Scherzer to Rangers

Let’s start with the New York Mets on this trade since they are the more curious team. This season has been arguably one of the worst in franchise history, and that’s saying a lot considering this is a cursed team. The biggest spenders in the winter are 50-55, over five games out of a wild card spot, and have the 11th-best record in the National League (which is the polite way of saying the fifth-worst record).

This week, it became official, they were selling at the trade deadline. David Robertson was moved to the Miami Marlins and now Max Scherzer was traded to the Texas Rangers. The question now is if Justin Verlander will remain on the team or not in the next few days.

The return for Scherzer feels underwhelming. Sure, they landed Luisangel Acuna, a talented prospect with all five tools but they only landed one player for a future Hall of Fame pitcher. The other thing to consider in the fallout of this trade is what it means for the Mets this winter.

There are two ways to view this. Either these trades help open up some payroll to allow them to make a push at signing Ohtani or the lack of star power heading into the offseason hurts their chances as they are a less desirable place to play now. Ohtani wants to be paid and the Mets can make that happen but he also wants to play on a contender and this team has yet to prove it can be that.

Now, to the Rangers. They’ve been one of the most fun teams to watch this year, boasting a 60-45 record and the division lead in the American League West Division. However, they know they’ll be in a dogfight with the Houston Astros in the final two months of the season. It’s the Astros division to lose until it’s not and everyone knows that. Adding Scherzer not only signals they are looking to win the division but the World Series. They now have a rotation build to dominate in October with Nathan Eovaldi and Scherzer being the one-two punch while Jon Gray and Dane Dunning round things out. Add that to a lineup that averages 5.77 runs per game and they check a lot of boxes.

What makes this deal better for the Rangers is Scherzer opting into the extra year of his contract following the deal. He’ll be a part of the rotation this year and next year, meaning they got more than a rental. Imagine how great this rotation will look when Jacob deGrom throws 50 pitches in five games next year.

The Cardinals Won’t Trade Arenado, They’ll Trade Everyone Else

The St. Louis Cardinals made it clear that they won’t trade star third baseman Nolan Arenado. The veteran has bounced back from an awful start to the season and has slashed .302/.351/.616 in June and .308/.359/.604 in July. He would allow the Cardinals to rebuild in a big trade but the front office wants to avoid doing that at all costs.

Instead, they’ll trade all the other players that were “tradeable” in recent days. They moved Jordan Montgomery, one of their better starters, they traded Jordan Hicks, the hard-throwing reliever, and are rumored to be ready to move on from a handful of others, especially in their rotation. The Cardinals see this season as a bump in the road and they won’t tear things down despite an aging roster starting to catch up with them.

Did The Cubs Get Hot At The Wrong Time?

The Chicago Cubs were 42-47 at the All-Star break. They look poised to sell at the deadline with a roster that had a lot of holes in it but valuable trade chips, most notably Cody Bellinger, who is having a resurgence in the city. A few moves could have boosted their farm system and set them up for next year.

Then the Cubs started winning. They lost two of three to the Boston Red Sox but then won two of three against the Washington Nationals. Then they started winning even more. They rattled off eight consecutive wins before dropping Sunday’s game to the Cardinals.

At 53-52, they are in no man’s land. They’ve been playing too well to sell and aren’t close enough to a playoff spot to buy in. The recent resurgence forced their hand on Bellinger as they announced they won’t move him and it’s hard seeing others traded in the coming days, especially since they are 3.5 games out of a wild card spot. So, this hot streak right before the deadline could spell doom for the team’s long-term plans and path to contention which is a bit unfortunate since they looked like a team poised to take a big leap entering this year but they never did.

Other Notes Ahead of the Deadline

One of the lingering questions is if and when the San Diego Padres will start to sell. They are well out of playoff contention and making a late-season push isn’t realistic. That said, they’ve sold out a lot of home games, and trading away players after making moves to go all-in for a few years now would be a slap in the face to the fans. The best guess is that they only make a few minor trades but don’t tear the whole thing down.

The other thing to watch is how the Astros and the Atlanta Braves add in the coming days. Both teams know they’ll be in the postseason barring any collapse. However, the two teams need to make a move or two to set themselves up for a postseason run.

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So, we’re back for a week off. The second half of the season is underway and teams are preparing for the home stretch. So, let’s look at some big-picture things that will be interesting to follow as the second half of the season get underway.

This Week in Baseball

Are the Orioles The New Team to Beat?

The Baltimore Orioles swept the Miami Marlins this weekend and extended their winning streak to eight games. They now sit at 57-35 and only one game back of first place in the American League East Division and the best record in the American League altogether.

The more the Orioles improve, the more they look like the best team in baseball. The question is what is preventing them from falling off or stumbling this year? It would be pitching but specifically, starting pitching, and for them, it hasn’t been a weakness as much as it hasn’t been a strength. That position, oddly enough, is the one they can also pursue at the deadline. One more note on the starting pitching is that it gets covered up easily by a dominant bullpen with Yennier Cano and Felix Bautista being two of the best relievers in baseball.

What makes the Orioles great is their lineup. Specifically, they have a batting order where nobody is an easy out and anyone can beat you. Like the Atlanta Braves in the National League, the Orioles have a surplus of hitters with an OPS+ over 100 (seven to be exact) and it prevents pitchers from building strong innings. They don’t have that one batter that stands out but they keep rallies going and slowly pile up the runs.

They average 4.98 runs per game and this weekend, they scored 16 to sweep the Marlins. They can win the division and secure the top record in the American League and with their batting order, they can beat any pitching staff in the game. To be fair, they are riding a hot streak but at this point, is there anything that can cause a decline? Maybe injuries but they have more depth to compensate for the loss of one player.

The West Division Chases Will Be Fun

Looking ahead to the second half of the season, what are the playoff chases that will be exciting? The American League East just became a race with the Orioles’ surge, the central divisions have teams hovering around .500 at best, and the Braves all but locked up the best record in the National League East. The west divisions however are not only close but have exciting storylines that will only become more intriguing in the late summer months.

The American League West Division features the team to beat not just in the division but in baseball, the Houston Astros. They have stumbled early on but are starting to field a healthy roster and are only a few games back of the Texas Rangers, the new and exciting team. The Rangers not only rebuilt their team, they spent wisely in free agency. They went out and got Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom, and last year signed both Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. They are the new flashy team and remain on course to win the division but the Astros, remain the steady force and it’s their division until it’s not, making this race all the more exciting.

In the National League, it’s a three-team race led by an old-guard favorite, the Los Angeles Dodgers. They’ve been the class of the division since 2013 and they continue to field the most talented team in the division. Their problem is that they have to fend off the young upstart Arizona Diamondbacks and the deep and pesky San Francisco Giants. It’s still the Dodgers division to lose but they’ll have two teams nipping at their heels in the upcoming months and it would be no surprise if the Giants, who won the division in 2021, or the Diamondbacks, took the title by season’s end.

The Yankees Have a Lower Ceiling Than Expected

Let’s take a step back and ask ourselves, what is this New York Yankees team ceiling? I say THIS Yankees team because it’s this team and not the one that started this season that has been stumbling for the past few weeks, and will continue to do so without Aaron Judge. Sure, they can get Judge back soon but we’re missing the point. There’s been a lot of benefit of the doubt given to this team. If Judge returns, they’ll be great. If the rotation is healthy, they’ll be dominant. If the roster in its entirety is healthy, they’ll be a World Series team.

The problem is that none of that has happened this season. They have been riddled with injuries and aren’t built to withstand a loss. Instead, they unravel. They just lost two of three to the lowly Colorado Rockies including Sunday’s loss where ace Gerrit Cole pitched six innings and allowed only one run while tossing 11 strikeouts, in Coors Field nonetheless (they lost 8-7 by the way). This team even when Judge gets back isn’t good enough to compete and that’s the stark reality, as this weekend reminded us.

So, back to the question, what is this Yankees team ceiling? They can slide into a wild card spot. Once they get there, they’ll face a team that unlikely them, will have the depth to win a series. The best-case scenario for this team is to make the postseason but not a postseason run, which is what this team was expected to do at the start of the season.

An Ohtani Trade Feels Necessary Now

Mike Trout‘s injury before the All-Star break essentially put a dagger into the hearts of the Los Angeles Angels. They were a borderline wild card team before the injury but now they are without one of the game’s best and it looks like another season will go by where this team misses the postseason.

With Shohei Ohtani heading to free agency after this season, the front office has to move him and find the biggest return possible to help this team rebound. Sure, they don’t want to be the team to trade the greatest player in the game, look what happened to the team that traded Babe Ruth (it’s the same team that traded Mookie Betts by the way, look at how that turned out). That said, the other option is to keep him on the roster for the rest of the season, barely miss the postseason, and have to bid with all the teams in baseball in the winter to keep him.

A trade, while brutal at the moment, leaves the Angels in the best long-term shape. They can get a lot for Ohtani. By a lot, the haul could give refuel their farm system and make them a team to beat down the road. Ideally, they build around a player like Ohtani but if they can’t (and it’s looking like they can’t) they should build around Trout and the pieces they receive in a big trade. The clock is ticking and the move is starting to feel more urgent with each passing day.

Cardinals, Padres & White Sox: Who Will Admit It’s Time

It’s hard to pick, between the three teams above, the most disappointing team. All three have not only been bad but have made fans question whether these teams must clean house in the offseason, if not sooner. The question is which team will admit that they must start selling at the deadline and trading as many veteran players as possible. One of these teams will have a front office willing to hit the reset button on their roster and make a few trades and that team will ultimately be better off for doing so.

Other Notes From This Week in Baseball

• The Milwaukee Brewers made a statement this weekend with their sweep of the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds are the upstart, new, and fun team to watch and by all means, will compete for the division but the Brewers are reminding them who the team to beat in the Central Division is.
• The Toronto Blue Jays swept the Diamondbacks and are back in the wild card discussion. They have been a fascinating team this year as they have the potent lineup to make a postseason run but a rotation that makes it difficult for them to build hot streaks. The Blue Jays are going to compete for a wild card spot and with a big deadline, they can be a sneaky team once October begins.

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German’s Perfect Game Highlights the Week

The best way to sum up the night is that the most imperfect Yankee pitcher was perfect. Domingo German has had a rocky tenure with the New York Yankees which has included multiple suspensions for both on and off-the-field issues. German has at times looked like a pitcher more worthy of being sent down to the minors than remaining in the rotation. However, against the Oakland A’s, he was masterful.

It was his moment of glory and because of his perfect game, German will always be remembered for his great outing. Not many fans know much about Don Larsen, other than the fact that he threw a perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Not many fans know a lot about Dallas Braden’s baseball career but a lot of casual fans know about his perfect game on Mother’s Day. German’s murky career suddenly isn’t as significant since he did the impossible, retiring all 27 batters he faced.

The on-the-field takeaway from his night is that if German’s curveball is clicking, he’s unhittable. He went to the curve for a majority of his 99 pitches on Wednesday and it allowed him to be dominant. He’s throwing it more this year, using the breaking pitch 41.7 percent of the time compared to only 37.3% in 2022 and only 34% in 2021. The hope for the Yankees, a team carried by their rotation, is that he can rely on that pitch to become a top-tier starter to help carry the team to the postseason.

Ohtani is the AL MVP & It’s Not Particularly Close

It’s become expected for Shohei Ohtani to have a remarkable week. He hit five home runs this week including a moonshot on Friday night that nearly traveled 500 feet. He started Tuesday night’s game and tossed 6.1 innings where he allowed only one run and struck out 10 batters. Ohtani’s numbers seem absurd at times and hard to fathom. The comparisons to Babe Ruth are used a lot but he’s in a category of his own.

Word is that Ohtani's home run is still in orbit.

(MLB x @GoogleCloud) pic.twitter.com/tDwEGsDzTA

— MLB (@MLB) July 1, 2023

What has become crazy about Ohtani’s otherworldly play is that he is dwarfing Mike Trout, who was the best player in the game. Trout is everything you want in a player with all five tools, consistent great play, and a demeanor that at times makes you feel bad for him (why did he deserve to suffer on a hapless team). Yet, Ohtani puts him in a separate tier, look at some hitting stats from the two.

Ohtani: .306/.391/.666 slash line, 31 home runs, and 217 total bases.

Trout: .260/.367/.486 slash line, 18 home runs, and 148 total bases.

Trout is putting together a strong season yet isn’t anywhere close to Ohtani. To be fair, nobody is. Ohtani has a 6.6 WAR, the next best player is Ronald Acuna Jr. at 4.8 WAR and the second-best player in the American League is Wander Franco at 4.2 WAR. Last year, it was a debate about who deserved to win the MVP, and this year, there is no debate. Now, there’s only one thing missing from Ohtani and Trout’s legacy and frankly, it’s not their fault that the Los Angeles Angels can’t reach the postseason or win a playoff game.

Braves Are Baseball’s New Best Team

The Miami Marlins are having a good season. They’ve established themselves as a wild card team and entered the weekend, with a great pitching staff leaving the way, hoping to prove they could compete in the division. They looked hapless against the Atlanta Braves who not only swept them but outscored them 29-7.

The Braves moved to 56-27 with eight wins in a row, nine wins in their last 10 games, and capping off June with a mindblowing 21-4 record. They have the best record in baseball and frankly, they look like the best team in the league. It’s hard to find a weakness in the roster and the lineup can beat any team at any point, setting them up for success this year and in the postseason.

The All-Star selections reflected the dominance the Braves have had in the National League. Eight players were voted for the game, six of which are everyday players. What I find wild is that Acuna Jr. is a gold glove centerfield and an elite talent in the outfield but with the Braves, he plays right field. He does in part to keep him healthy as he doesn’t need to run as often at the corner position but the other big reason is that Michael Harris, another gold glove fielder is patrolling centerfield. Long story short, the team is so good that their MVP-caliber player who is an elite fielder isn’t even the best fielder in his outfield.

The Braves are cruising to the best record in baseball. The question is where they can improve. Ideally, they add some bullpen help at the trade deadline but only to round out a roster not to cover up a need.

Padres Continued Embarrassment

It’s easy to forget what the perception of the San Diego Padres was before the season started. They were expected to compete for the best record in the National League. They looked hapless this week, losing seven of their last 10 including series defeats to the Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cincinnati Reds.

The Padres are 38-46 and have to be more worried about finishing in last place in the division than making the postseason. To say their season has been embarrassing is an understatement. Juan Soto has bounced back and is putting together a great season but the rest of the lineup has fallen apart. Michael Wacha and Blake Snell have stepped up in the rotation but the rest of the pitching staff has struggled. The Padres are a team that rely on their stars and so far, they’ve only received some production from their elite players.

The question is where the Padres go from here. What do they do with this lost season and what happens moving forward? Ideally, they trade away some of their players at the deadline but this is a team that invested in long-term contracts, making it difficult to move many if any of their players. The other option is to do nothing, keeping a crumbling roster in the same state. The trade deadline will be interesting for the Padres, largely because it’s unknown how they’ll approach it but the angle they take will determine their future for both this year and for years to come.

The 4th of July Week Is Another Checkpoint

Just like Memorial Day is a checkpoint, the Fourth of July is another point in the season where we can look back and see how teams are doing. Memorial Day is when sample sizes start to matter but Independence Day, along with the All-Star Break, are the halfway points.

So, what are some of the takeaways? Well, the Braves, Tampa Bay Rays, and Texas Rangers are the top teams in baseball and they look poised to contend for the World Series. The Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Baltimore Orioles have proven that their hot starts aren’t flukes and they can compete this year. The rule changes, while scoffed at initially, are a success. And Rob Manfred, well, he’s still got a lot to be desired.

Other Takeaways From This Week in Baseball

• The Toronto Blue Jays were swept this weekend at home against the Boston Red Sox. It’s a tough sweep for them since they could have made up significant ground in the wild card race if they took at least one game but instead, they are starting to slide again. So it goes with these hard-to-predict Blue Jays.
• The Milwaukee Brewers have won seven of their last 10 games and are tied with the Reds for first place in the National League Central Division. Maybe we’re in for a tight divisional race after all.

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Then something special happened. Something that all Yankee fans and even baseball fans will remember for years to come. Something that didn’t happen for over a decade and for the Yankees, it hadn’t happened since the turn of the century.

German was flawless. He pitched a perfect game, the 24th in major league history. 27 A’s batters came to the plate and he retired them all. It was a performance that he needed but more importantly was the start of the season for the Yankees, a team that needed an energy boost like this.

A Perfect Night For German

At first, nobody was thinking of a perfect game. It wasn’t on anybody’s radar. All that mattered was that the Yankees needed a bounce-back game. Through the first few innings, that’s what they got.

In the fourth inning, Giancarlo Stanton wrapped a home run over the left field wall. The monster blast gave the Yankees their first run and the lead. In the fifth inning, they put the game out of reach, scoring six runs in the frame. It was a rally that wasn’t seen in a while from the batting order, one that only scored five runs or more twice in the previous 12 days.

Suddenly, German retired the A’s in the bottom of the fifth inning and everyone started to notice something special was brewing. That was the inning when a hard grounder to first forced Anthony Rizzo to make a diving stop and flip the ball to first, a play that proved to be the biggest in the game.

Now, some folks in their heads were counting down the outs. Of course, nobody could say anything and the bench avoided German like he was possessed, fearing that they would be the ones to jinx him. he didn’t get the memo and went back out to pitch the rest of the game.

He threw only 99 pitches in total and tosses nine strikeouts. German’s curve ball in particular was his go-to. He tossed it 51 times for multiple whiffs and weak contact off the bat. By the time German retired Brent Rooker in the seventh, everyone sensed what was happening. The outing was still perfect and he retired the best hitter of an otherwise hapless lineup. Now, the only obstacle in German was himself.

When German was in the dugout, it seemed like the only two people who weren’t afraid to jinx him were Ryan Ruocco, who was calling the game on the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network (YES), and pitching coach Matt Blake. Blake was chatting about what pitches to throw as if it were another day at the ballpark.

The lineup, without saying anything, also sent that message as they piled on the runs. It was 8-0 when German retired the A’s in the eighth and when he went out to end the game in the last frame, the score was 11-0. The only thing that mattered at the bottom of the ninth was whether a perfect game would be thrown or not.

German was nervous, as he mentioned after the game, but looked unfazed. He forced Aledmys Diaz into a 1-2 count and got him to ground out to short on a high fastball. On the first pitch to Shane Langeliers, he threw his unhittable curve and force a pop fly to center field, which was caught with a lot of energy and passion (as many final outs are in perfect games, hoping the fielder isn’t the one to make the error) by Harrison Bader. For the final out, German went with his best pitch, the curveball, to force a grounder to Josh Donaldson who fired the ball to first.

The perfect game was thrown and a sign of relief was exhaled by the starter as the Yankees stormed the field. German has had a rocky season to put it lightly. He’s been suspected of using sticky substances and he was suspended at one point in the season. Multiple times in the game, he was checked by the umpires with an understandable suspicion that his perfection, had to be coming from a doctor baseball. On this night, he was clean and flawless.

German has also had plenty of highs and lows on the mound. He’s allowed 45 runs in 81.1 innings pitched and his 9.4 Barrel Percentage is a particular concern. Opponents have hit the ball hard off of him and taken him deep throughout the year. His previous start had him booed off the mound at Yankee Stadium by fans who saw him as a liability in the rotation. At the Coliseum, he was perfect. Wednesday night was his moment in the spotlight as he became the hero the Yankees didn’t ask for but got anyway.

German Joins Elite Company

The Yankees have had no shortage of perfect games. German was the fourth to throw one in team history and that is more than any other franchise. Interestingly, his perfect game parallels the first one that was thrown in team history.

Don Larsen had a rough career and was a back-of-the-rotation pitcher, even with the Yankees. He notably went 3-21 on a last-place Baltimore Orioles team in 1954 and in his 15-year career, he pitched for seven teams (his career WAR is 18.4, a low total for someone who pitched that long). His 1956 season was one of his best but underwhelming as he allowed 72 runs in 179.2 innings pitched. But of course, none of that matters when it comes to Larsen.

In Game 5 of the 1956 World Series, he was unhittable. He pitched the first and only perfect game in World Series history and helped propel the Yankees to the series title over the Brooklyn Dodgers. It took the Yankees seven games to win the series but after a 2-0 win with a perfect game, the series was all but theirs.

In 1998, the game that turned the Yankees season around was pitched by David Wells. The team was 28-9 at the time but not a juggernaut in the American League at that point. Then Wells, while hungover, pitched his perfect game. The flawless start was the fuel the Yankees needed as they went 114-48 that season and 11-2 in the postseason to win the World Series. That team is regarded as one of the greatest in baseball history and the regular season was embodied by a perfect game.

The next year, David Cone had his perfect game. A mid-July game against the Montreal Expos was meant to commemorate the Larsen perfect game. Little did the nearly 42,000 in attendance know that they would witness history. Cone threw only 88 pitches and tosses 10 strikeouts in about as efficient a game as possible. His perfect game was another part of the modern dynasty as the Yankees went on to win the World Series that year.

Every time the Yankees have thrown a perfect game, it seemed to be followed by a World Series title. Likewise, the names of the pitchers who tossed them have gone down in memory as great or near legends. Say the name “Larsen” or “Coney” around Yankees fans and they’ll immediately say “perfect game” and some can even tell you where they were. While German’s outing won’t fuel a World Series title per se, his name will forever be linked to perfection even if his career suggests otherwise.

How This Start Can Turn The Yankees Season Around

The game itself was remarkable but also a reminder of how the Yankees will reach the postseason. If the Yankees are going to get on a run, it will come from their starting pitching.

Gerrit Cole has been everything the Yankees could have asked for in an ace. His dominance has singlehandedly kept the team competitive. Jhony Brito has shown flashes and Luis Severino when healthy can hold his own. German’s start showed that if his curveball is clicking, he can be dominant.

This is all being done without the help of Nestor Cortes, who is injured, and Carlos Rodon, who has yet to throw for the team. the expectation is that they will both join the rotation and put it over the top. However, the Yankees still have a rotation that can push them to the postseason.

German won’t be perfect for the rest of the season. However, he can build off this start and be a reliable part of a great rotation. And that is what the Yankees really need.

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The two teams combined for 47 runs in the three-game set. Every game in the series was decided by one run. There were many moments when a game could’ve swung one way or the other and flipped this series. That is postseason baseball. It’s when every pitch, every plate appearance, and every swing has significance. That’s where we start this week, with the Braves and the Reds and their series.

What You Missed Last Week in Baseball

Braves & Reds Give Us Postseason Baseball

The Reds entered the series looking unbeatable. They won 11 games in a row heading into the weekend series, including sweeping the Houston Astros, the defending World Series champion. With the Elly De La Cruz addition, the lineup has become tough to stop, scoring 4.92 runs per game including seven runs per game in the past 12 games. The rookie makes everyone in the lineup better from Jake Fraley to TJ Freidl to recent callup and longtime Red, Joey Votto.

De La Cruz’s impact was seen firsthand in Friday’s game. He hit for the cycle to drive in four runs and circle the bases three times. He’s a force in the heart of the lineup that forces opponents to pitch around him as he not only can power the ball for a homer but if it’s in play, it’s likely extra bases. This was helped by Votto’s presence as well with the veteran not only returning but hitting two home runs in the 11-10 win. With this lineup playing the way it does, it makes you wonder how far the Reds can go this season. Do they need pitching help? Yes. Do they need bullpen help? Alexis Diaz proved otherwise with his save in the Friday win.

MORE: Will the Reds stay hot and hit the OVER (65.5)?

That said, the Braves reminded the Reds of the gap between a good and great team in the National League. They took the next two games of the series with their lineup waking up and taking over the games. Matt Olson had two homers and drove in five runs while Ronald Acuna Jr. had three hits in the two wins. The Braves have a lineup that is star-studded and deep enough to take over a game at any point. Their batting order is what the Reds aspire to be someday.

And that is in a lot of ways how the series can be described. The Braves have been there and done that. They have a rotation that can win a World Series, as they’ve shown previously. They have a lineup built for October. The Reds are only entering their contention window and are seeing the gap. They know that someday they can reach the Braves level but they got some work to do.

MORE: The Braves were expected to win 95.5 games, are they on track?

London Ball

There was a lot of excitement for the London Series between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals. Like the Field of Dreams game last year (and the year before that), the intrigue of playing major league baseball in a field not designed for that brings a level of excitement.

The games themselves weren’t that entertaining. The Cubs run away with the opening game and then scored four runs before noon (central time) only to allow seven runs after the opening frame and lose 7-5. However, a few things stood out from the game that are with noting.

The surface was different and it felt that way. Instead of a typical grass and sand field, London Stadium had a surface that resembled more of what the Toronto Blue Jays have. The ball was more lively and bounced with more speed and height while ground balls took off. It’s something that always seems to be a throwback to the 80s when every ballpark was astroturf and the game was built on speed.

The other part of this series is the fact that MLB is trying to grow the game and London is just another destination. Europe has felt like a frontier that baseball has yet to plant its flag into and there’s no shortage of cities that can be next.

Are the Mets Done?

Sunday’s loss has to be a low point for the New York Mets. With a 6-3 lead in the eighth inning, they looked like they were going to end the weekend series on a high note against the Philadelphia Phillies. The bullpen hasn’t been a strength but with David Robertson ready to close things out, it looked like a sure win. But, manager Buck Showalter didn’t bring in Robertson. Instead, he went with Josh Walker, who pitched six innings this year, and then Jeff Brigham to clean up the mess Walker made.

The Mets allowed four runs in the inning to lose the game 7-6. They’ve now dropped to 35-42 on the season, remain in fourth place in their division, and are eight games out of a wild card spot. The Mets have spent to the point where .500 ball would be a disappointment, they are seven games behind .500 at the moment. To make things worse, they trail the Phillies, who are in third place in the division, by five games while leading the Washington Nationals by five games. Long story short, they trail the third-place team by the same number of games as the last-place team in their division.

The clock was already ticking on Showalter. The question is if this weekend was the last straw. Every game counts for the Mets and a blown lead like Sunday’s game was one that fell on the manager. He had plenty of chances to turn to his closer to end the game but kept Robertson in the bullpen and allowed the Phillies to win. It’s ironically, the same big mistake he made in Baltimore with the Orioles in the 2016 wild card game. In the game, he kept Zack Britton in the bullpen with the game tied in extra innings as he was having his closer for a save situation. Now, that mistake could be his lasting impression in New York.

Giants Surprise Surge in the National League

The San Francisco Giants have snuck up on everyone. A 10-game win streak followed by back-to-back wins put them in second place in the National League West Division, only 2.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team they took the weekend series against. The Giants are 44-34 and have the second wild card spot in the National League.

The question is what makes the Giants good? The answer is the same thing that made them dominant in 2021. They have elite pitching or more accurately, good pitching behind a good enough fielding team. On top of that, they have a lineup that has depth with six active batters having an OPS+ over 100. The Giants don’t have one intimidating bat in their lineup but they have multiple tough outs in every game. It makes their lineup one that nobody wants to face.

The Giants aren’t going to replicate their 2021 season where they won 107 games. However, this is a team that will be tough to deal with and they can easily snag one of the wild card spots in the National League.

Hot & Cold Streaks Galore

The last big thought from this week was the surprising number of hot streaks and cold streaks in baseball. The Reds won 12 games in a row while the Braves won eight straight and nine of the last 10 games. The Giants won 10 in a row while the Miami Marlins won six of eight. The Pittsburgh Pirates lost 10 games in a row and 12 of their last 13 while the Oakland A’s lost eight consecutive games and 10 of their last 11. It was one of those stretches where if your team wasn’t on a streak, something wasn’t right.

Other Notes From This Week in Baseball

• The Los Angeles Angels put a beatdown on the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night. They scored 25 runs, 13 of them in one inning, to take the game. Unfortunately for them, momentum is only as good as their next starting pitcher. They lost the Friday game and the Sunday game to lose the series and fall out of the wild card position.
• I hope you like Sox. The Chicago White Sox face the Boston Red Sox this weekend. Otherwise, the series felt rather meaningless are both teams are going nowhere this season. To be fair, the Red Sox are a game above .500 but their luck has them in baseball’s best division so they are in last place.
• The New York Yankees took two of three against the Seattle Mariners and two of three against the Texas Rangers. They did this while scoring a total of 17 runs in the last six games. Will they make the postseason on the backs of dominant starting pitching? We’ll find out.

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Entering this series against the Seattle Mariners, the script was clear. They needed their pitching to step up to secure the series. With the lineup struggling, the starters delivered to secure a 3-1 victory and a 4-2 win to take home back-to-back games.

The Yankees have been led by their starting pitching this season. With the lineup looking hapless, the pitchers have kept the team above .500 and in the Wild Card race in the American League. The question is if this is sustainable. More importantly, can the Yankees remain a contender with a great pitching staff but an awful lineup?

Cole Continues To Carry The Yankees

Gerrit Cole had another remarkable start. On Tuesday, he pitched 7.1 innings and allowed only one run while striking out eight Mariners. What stood out in the start was his usage of the slider, a pitch he throws 21% of the time but used for 28 of his 105 pitches. The pitch resulted in multiple swings and misses and quick strikeouts to allow for a strong outing.

Cole’s bread and butter this year has been his fastball. The 98-mile-per-hour high heat is what can blow batters away and allow him to control games. However, his slider has started to become the putaway pitch. It drifts away from right-handed batters and forces ground-outs on left-handed hitters. While Cole will still rely on his fastball (throwing the pitch 56% of the time) his secondary pitch is what makes him a Cy Young-caliber pitcher.

This season, Cole has carried the Yankees. Aside from the strong starts every five days, he’s stepped up on a team that has otherwise struggled. His 3.3 WAR leads the Yankees and his performance on the mound has kept the team competitive. In a season where the lineup hasn’t been great, Cole makes the team postseason worthy.

The Rotation Is Coming Into Form

Jhony Brito returned from his injury stint to pitch Wednesday night’s game. He pitched a gem. Ok, maybe a gem is an exaggeration but he tossed 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and one walk while striking out three.

The 25-year-old has had plenty of highs and lows on the mound this year. In his previous start, he allowed four runs in four innings. This season, he’s allowed 28 runs in 40.1 innings pitched. However, in his first start in over a month, he showed he is ready to take off. His outing proved that he can take up the final spot in the rotation and remain a reliable contributor.

The best thing about Brito stepping up is that the rotation suddenly looks like a reliable one, one that can carry the Yankees. Domingo German and Luis Severino have struggled at times but have both stepped up to become solid middle-of-the-rotation pitchers. Clarke Schmidt has pitched poorly for most of the season but has improved in recent starts. Schmidt has allowed only six runs in his last three starts and only nine runs in his last six, bouncing back from an awful April and early May.

Eventually, Carlos Rodon (fingers crossed) will pitch for the Yankees. He finally threw a ball on a mound in a game. granted it was a few innings with the double-A club (Somerset Patriots) but that is progress for a pitcher that was doubtful to return this season. If Rodon is back in the rotation, he puts this pitching staff over the top. He’s the pitcher that can make the Yankees’ rotation a legitimate one that nobody would want to face. This is of course if he stays healthy which still feels like an uphill battle.

The Bullpen Rounds Out The Yankees Pitching

The rotation has stepped up specifically in the last two games but the bullpen has been remarkable all year. The Yankees don’t have leads often but when they do, closing out games has felt easy.

The Yankees have had a great bullpen since the Mariano Rivera days and it seems like he’s blessed the team with a good bullpen. Since he’s retired, they’ve gone from David Robertson, Andrew Miller, and Dellin Betances to Aroldis Chapman, Chad Green, and Adam Ottavino to Wandy Peralta, Michael King, and Clay Holmes.

This year’s group is led by Holmes who has not only been the closer but the most valuable in the bullpen. His 1.2 WAR, 179 ERA+, and zero home runs allowed are all best in the bullpen and his sinker remains one of the best pitches in baseball. As the setup relievers, Peralta has been the pitcher capable of coming into a game at any point to pitch a scoreless inning, allowing only 10 runs in 28 innings pitched while King has put together a remarkable year as he’s allowed only 12 runs in 38.1 innings pitched.

The pitching staff stepping up has made the Yankees a formidable team. It’s something many of us weren’t expecting when this season started but it’s how things are turning out. It’s oddly similar to the 2019 season. That year, the lineup was a disaster with too many swing-and-miss hitters and not enough plate discipline. Instead, the Yankees reached the postseason on the backs of Cole, Nestor Cortes, and a reliable rotation. It’s something that makes it easy to believe that this team can figure out a way to compete even without a great lineup.

Is This Sustainable?

The bottom line is that the Yankees can only go so far with a hapless lineup. This lineup is not only bad but looks like one of the worst in baseball when Judge isn’t in it. Think of this. The Yankees only have three batters with an OPS+ over 100 and that includes Judge. Without him, their leader in that category is Anthony Rizzo at 118.

The Yankees with no run support can make the postseason, maybe, as a Wild Card team. But, they would be eliminated rather quickly by a team that not only has a great pitching staff but a lineup that can put up a few runs on Cole and the others.

Fortunately, the expectation is that this won’t be the lineup the Yankees have in October. For starters, Judge will return from his toe injury. His return immediately makes the lineup average. On top of that, Giancarlo Stanton, the definition of a boom or bust hitter, has been all bust at the moment but eventually looks to start to become the powerful presence everyone anticipates (so it goes with him). Lastly, the Yankees won’t shy away from making a few moves at the trade deadline. This year, it will be about adding contact to the back half of the lineup and they will be sure to do that if the lineup remains a liability.

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The Nevada legislatures passed the vote to allow the development of a new ballpark. That’s all John Fisher, owner of the club, needed. With that, the A’s are starting to relocate to Las Vegas. The move puts a lot of fans in a weird spot. How should they feel? Is this good for baseball? Why are we still talking about a team 36 games below .500?

This week, it’s hard not to think about the A’s and particularly the fans in Oakland. Likewise, it’s also hard not to think about commissioner Rob Manfred who not only let this happen, in a messy way nonetheless but embraced it. So, let’s look at this news in two parts.

A’s Have Their Week, Season & History Crushed

For a few days, things looked bright in Oakland. To be specific, the team was on a seven-game winning streak, their owner looked unlikely to close a deal, and fans reverse-boycotted the team by paying to sell out Tuesday’s home game.

The A’s weren’t just winning, they were beating up some great teams. The Milwaukee Brewers are in first place in the National League Central Division, they swept them. The Tampa Bay Rays have the best record in the American League, they beat them in consecutive games. The A’s for the first time all season, looked like a team that could win a handful of games and maybe in a few years be competitive.

The Tuesday night game was also one to remember not just for the people in Oakland, but for baseball fans as a whole. The fans packed a ballpark that is designed to keep fans out. They chanted for Fisher to sell the team and other chants that would be wise to not repeat. The people of Oakland showed in one game that they are not the reason that the team is leaving but instead, they proved that it’s the owner who wants the deal that best suits him, and he’ll try everything in his power to make sure that happens.

Then came the vote, one that gave Manfred, Fisher, and MLB the green light to build a ballpark in Las Vegas. Shortly after the A’s fans showed that they care about the team, the team showed they couldn’t care less about the fans. At times, it seemed like the A’s wouldn’t be able to move to Las Vegas, a city that is willing to put in the money but doesn’t need the flailing team as much as the flailing team needs them. Yet, the legislation passed, and with that, the end of the A’s as we know them. The vote and turn of events all but put the dagger into this team.

The immediate aftermath was a team that looked lifeless, as they have throughout the season. The A’s lost five games in a row since the ruling and are now 19-55. They look like a team that has nothing to play for and it’s hard to blame them. At this point, any baseball fan feels bad for the fans of the team, the city, the players, and everyone who was thrown into this mess that has become the story of baseball for all the wrong reasons.

The long-term takeaway from this week was the A’s era in Oakland is all but done. They left a unique legacy in the city but one that in a lot of ways, is unfortunate and sad. Yes, the A’s won three World Series titles in a row and four in the Bay Area. Yes, the green and yellow uniforms were introduced as they were heading west, and along with the jerseys, the A’s gave us a lot of iconic players, teams, and moments. But, it’s hard not to think of their tenure in Oakland without thinking about the owners and the bad luck the fans had to endure.

At first, the A’s dealt with Charles Finley, one of the worst owners in sports history. Finley’s teams won three titles in spite of him and not because of him. They won because they drafted well and free agency wasn’t a thing until the late 1970s. Finley meanwhile, drove the team to bankruptcy, feuded with players and fans, and didn’t even spend his time with the team (he was based out of Chicago). Recently, the A’s have dealt with Fisher, who is as incompetent as they come and actively trying to drive the team away from the fans.

The A’s haven’t officially moved to Las Vegas but this week was a dagger for what seems like an inevitability. The rest of the season will be weird, eerily, and at times, nostalgic. We will look back at Oakland’s time with the team and the highs and lows that came with the A’s, a team that is the definition of boom and bust.

Rob Manfred, Reminds Us That He’s Rob Manfred

When the season started, it looked like Manfred finally got something right. His tenure has been mired with rough moments and the rule changes looked like something that would define his legacy for the better.

The pitch clock, shift ban, bigger bases, and all the rules meant to speed up the game not only worked but made the game more exciting. Baseball looked like it was heading for a comeback in the national landscape. Manfred was ridiculed for the changes but a few weeks into the season, they became a hit for fans of all ages. But as the saying goes, “A broken clock is right twice a day.” The saying for those who don’t know is meant for people who always mess up or are always in the wrong but on the rare occasion, they get something right.

The rule changes were Manfred’s broken clock moment. This week was a reminder as he not only helped with the relocation but then stood by the decision to move the team while neglecting a fanbase that tried to keep it. He mentioned during his press conference that there wasn’t an offer from Oakland. The Mayor of the city stated that there was a proposal that Fisher wasn’t happy with. He belittled the fans for the reverse boycott stating how the attendance was average for most MLB teams, ignoring the premise of it in the first place. Overall, he sounded tone-deaf during his press conference and was covering up for an owner that didn’t want to speak for himself.

In a season that looked promising, this puts a stain on the year. The game hasn’t felt this exciting yet Manfred found a way to mess up a year with a lot of optimism. It’s a reminder that Manfred is still the commissioner that finds a way to put himself on the wrong side of things.

Small Market Teams Are Thriving (Surprisingly Enough)

After the first two notes were about Oakland, it’s time to look at what some small market teams are doing right. After all, this is the year where the smaller market teams are not only playing well but they are the dominant teams in the league.

The Rays are in first place in the American League East Division. The Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks have the two best records in the National League. The Miami Marlins and Baltimore Orioles are in playoff position. The San Francisco Giants were the notable non-spenders of the offseason, failing to sign Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa, the top two free agents. The Giants have the fifth-best record in the National League.

In a league where the small market teams are typically stomped by the teams with higher payrolls, they have had the upper hand this season. Why? Well, there isn’t one answer but a common thread is that these teams have wisely invested in their rosters and are making smart moves, not big ones. These teams aren’t trying to acquire the best players but rather the player that best fits into their lineup or their field. Likewise, they have started to invest in the team, unlike a team that is looking to leave its city (ahem).

The takeaway from this season should be how many smaller clubs are starting to win. Baseball is known for being a sport where the spenders are the ones that usually end up in the World Series. This year, we might see the Rays go up against the Diamondbacks.

Is it Time to Believe in the Angels?

The Los Angeles Angels are 41-33 and in wild card position. After taking the series against the Texas Rangers and winning the weekend series against the Kansas City Royals, they have moved 4.5 games behind first place in their division. Every year, the Angels get off to a hot start and fans hope that this could be the year that they snap the longest playoff drought in baseball. Then, without fail, they fall apart. They haven’t reached the postseason since 2014, it’s tied with the Detroit Tigers for the longest drought.

So, is this their year? It’s early but this season does feel different. The big change is in the lineup with help around Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani in the batting order. Four active batters have an OPS+ over 100. Sure Trout and Ohtani do most of the work but this year, there’s more in the lineup that allows them to average 4.93 runs per game.

The pitching staff is where the questions start. Yes, Ohtani is putting together a Cy Young (and MVP) season but there’s a drop-off after that. The Angels don’t have a strong rotation and it’s unclear if they can hold up with that in mind. Otherwise, the Angels will have to outslog their way to the postseason. This week, they did that with a 9-6 win and a 7-3 win but that doesn’t look sustainable and they’ll need the pitching staff to step up.

Giants Batter the Dodgers

This was a slight surprise from the weekend. The Giants not only swept the Los Angeles Dodgers, they outscored them 29-8. This was a beatdown that the Giants gave the Dodgers, highlighted by the 15-0 Saturday win, and it flipped the two teams in the standings.

The Giants have been a rollercoaster team all season with a lot of groundball pitchers and a lot of contact hitters. At times, they look like a legitimate wild card team and are riding a hot streak, winning seven in a row and eight of 10. However, when they do cold, particularly when their fielding struggles, everything unravels and they look like a last-place team.

The real takeaway from this series was the Dodgers. They don’t look like the big bad team that they have been for years. Specifically, they don’t have a rotation which makes it easy to think that they’ll win every series. Sure, Clayton Kershaw looks great as expected but Julio Urias is hurt, Walker Buehler isn’t back from his elbow injury and might not return this season, and Noah Syndergaard has been a disastrous signing. The Dodgers were confident their rotation would hold up just fine as it did last year. It hasn’t and it’s showing.

Other Takeaways From The Week in Baseball

• There’s a power outage in New York. The New York Yankees face the New York Mets this week in the most anti-climactic Subway Series in years. The two teams were lacking star power and both teams split the set. After the two-game series, the Yankees went only to score eight runs on the weekend against their rival Boston Red Sox. The Mets, well they scored only 16 runs in their series but lost two of the three games, dropping to 33-38.
• The Royals are the new worst team in baseball. They’ve won only one of their last 10 games and have 19 total wins on the season. The Rays won more games than them in April (22-6) which speaks volumes to how bad they’ve been. The Royals however aren’t trying to lose. They are just a sorry team which is a shame since they have some players that should make them more competitive.
• The Cincinnati Reds, with their sweep of the Houston Astros, have extended their winning streak to eight games and are now 37-35. They keep rolling and look like the team to beat in the National League Central Division.
• On the flip side, the Astros were swept and are stumbling. They entered the season as the team to beat in the American League but they haven’t looked like a juggernaut in the slightest. The Astros face the Mets this week in a series where both teams will be desperate to turn things around.

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More on the smoke later but this week, was an eventful one in baseball. Andrew McCutchen notched his 2000th career hit, Kyle Hendricks had a no-hit bid through the eighth inning, and two divisions have a new team in first. But, the big highlight of the week for many baseball fans was the impressive showing from one of the top prospects in baseball. One player has given a fanbase hope for the first time in a decade and could help propel his team to a division title.

Takeaways From Last Week in Major League Baseball

De La Cruz Fuels Big Red Machine

Elly De La Cruz made his MLB debut on Tuesday, June 6. Before stepping up to the plate, there was already an understandable buzz in Great American Ballpark. The 6-5 200-pound infielder brings a large presence not just for his size but his skills and ability in the lineup. His first game provided the breadcrumbs for the fans as they saw him smash a double to the outfield wall and speed his way around the bases.

Then came the game where the national baseball world took notice of the phenom. The Cincinnati Reds were eager to return to the win column and put De La Cruz in the cleanup spot in the lineup. The second pitch of the plate appearance was high and inside and the power-hitting prospect pulled the ball with a sound off the bat that had anyone watching convinced that the ball was going to break through a wall. His first big league homer barely remained in the stadium and sent everyone into a frenzy. How often does a player hit a ball that hard? How often does a rookie make contact like that?

De Le Cruz wasn’t done that night. Later in the game, he powered a triple which allowed him to score another run in an 8-6 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The rest of the week wasn’t as eventful with only five singles but the baseball world has already seen his ceiling. The power, speed, and sheer athleticism have many Reds fans wondering what he can become.

More importantly, it puts the Reds back on the map. They have a 31-35 record but suddenly look like a formidable team. De La Cruz makes the rest of the lineup look better and suddenly, Spencer Steer has lineup support. Jonathan India and TJ Friedl look a little better with a power bat in the middle. It’s an overreaction to say one player turns a team into a contender but De La Cruz can boost a lineup and team to the point where suddenly a good roster becomes a playoff-caliber one.

For the Reds, this is what they’ve needed for years. The franchise has only reached the postseason once in the last nine seasons. Last year looked like a low point when they started the season 3-22 and ended the year looking like a hapless organization. This week gave the Reds hope, a possible return to the Big Red Machine days of the 1970s or even the days when they were perennial division winners in the early 2010s. For a fanbase that has gone through a lot, De La Cruz is the antidote they’ve needed and the player that they can look forward to watching on a nightly basis.

Marlins Are Sneaking Up On Everyone

Did you know that the Miami Marlins are 37-29 and in second place in the National League East Division? Did you know that they won eight of their last 10 games including a comeback win on Sunday against the Chicago White Sox where they scored three runs in the ninth inning to win 6-5? Unless you are a Marlins fan, this might be a surprise (it certainly has been a surprise for the one writing this article).

wheee! pic.twitter.com/J357wZcL7f

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 11, 2023

The Marlins are having a good season but it’s interesting to see how they are winning games. Their lineup is below league average, scoring only 4.00 runs per game but they have a batting order where the pieces fit. Reigning Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara is having a rough season on the mound but the rest of the rotation has been exceptional. The Marlins are a team of odd pieces but have put together a roster that can not only make the postseason but possibly take the division.

The highlight of their lineup and team as a whole has been Luis Arraez. While the batting average has been evaluated differently in recent years (with many using the slash line instead to evaluate a hitter), he’s batting over .400 at the moment. This is historic territory. Aaron Judge hit 62 home runs and that felt monumental but the last time someone had a batting average over .400 was in 1953 (by the great Ted Williams). Players have gotten close but Arraez is on pace to hit that monumental .400 threshold. But along with the average, he’s been the slap hitter that the Marlins have needed, slashing .402/.452/.491 and putting the ball in play to keep the line moving.

Along with Arraez, the Marlins have surrounded him with notable players that contrast his hitting style to form a dynamic lineup. Jorge Soler is a power hitter who has a .524 slugging percentage and 17 home runs. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was the speedster (before he got hurt) who when he got on base, could put himself in scoring position, stealing 14 bases in 16 attempts. The Marlins assemble a lineup that doesn’t have star power but the players fit alongside each other.

It’s still early in the season and a lot can change. However, the Marlins have shown that they will be in the fight for the rest of the season. They’ll compete for a Wild Card spot and they have a slight chance to win the division at the end of the day. Best yet, Alcantara can turn a corner and become unhittable again. Imagine if that happens.

Diamondbacks Win Five Straight

Sure, the hot streak can be taken with a grain of salt. The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Washington Nationals in back-to-back games and then swept the Detroit Tigers this weekend. However, they’ve been playing at a high level all season, and weeks like these are the ones that win divisions.

The Diamondbacks are 40-25 and in first place in the National League West Division by 3.5 games. The expectation is that the Dodgers will eventually overtake them in the division but they’ve consistently remained near the top all season.

The Diamondbacks finally have a lineup to pair with their strong pitching staff. Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly were expected to put together good years but they needed run support. Enter a team that averages 5.14 runs per game and has scored 38 runs in the last five games. Five batters have an OPS+ over 100 and Corbin Carroll looks like one of baseball’s best young hitters, slashing .301/.385/.565 with 13 home runs and 122 total bases.

The Diamondbacks have quietly leaped to the top of the National League. While the hot streak will cool off and they will regress to the mean, they’ve been playing well all year and have established themselves as a playoff team. They won’t buy in at the trade deadline but they have a core that is easy to like and expect to keep them competitive this season and for years to come.

Braves Over Mets Anyday

It’s hard to know whether teams or cursed or not unless you are a New York Mets fan. For this team, it seems like whatever can go wrong does. They sign Carlos Correa! Turns out, his physical leaves them concerned about his long-term health and they fail to come to an agreement. They have the best closer in baseball! Edwin Diaz suffers a season-ending injury after celebrating the final out of a game in the World Baseball Classic. They have a billionaire owner willing to spend big on free agents! Turns out, those players are underachieving or injured (they are 40 years old).

This week, the Mets faced their rival Atlanta Braves, a team that has had their number for the past 30 years. These two teams have gone through ownership changes, roster overhauls, and new stadiums, and just about everything has changed from 1990 until now except one thing. The Braves continue to own the Mets. Last year, everything went right for them in a 101-win season but they fail to win the division after they are swept by the Braves in Atlanta in the final week of the season.

Fast forward to this week. The two teams are playing in the same ballpark as they did in September and it felt like deja vu. The Mets would take commanding leads only to squander them late. They’d have great starts ruined by a terrible bullpen. They were swept by the Braves and to make matters worse, Pete Alonso, their best hitter, was hit in the hand by a pitch and will miss time.

The Braves built off the series sweep and moved to 40-25. They are in first place in the division and the common theme is that it’s their division to lose until it’s not. The Mets meanwhile lost two of their three games to the Pittsburgh Pirates and dropped to 31-35 on the season. The Mets division hopes seem crushed and now the questions start to swirl around manager Buck Showalter and if he’ll remain with the team for the rest of the season. As Yogi Berra once said “It gets late out there early” and in June, the season looks bleak for a team with World Series aspirations.

Smoke & Pollution Create a New Obstacle for Manfred

Whether the forest fires are an outlier or something to expect moving forward with global warming, they create an uncomfortable and difficult problem for Commissioner Rob Manfred. If extreme weather issues can and will affect the playing conditions, baseball as we know it will have to change. Specifically, those beautiful summer nights with teams playing in the great weather might not be available or there will be stretches where it will be impossible to play outdoors.

This week, the air quality made it not only a bad idea to play baseball in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington DC but it made it deadly to do so. Breathing in the smoke would result in fatigue, dizziness, coughing, or worse, collapsing. Poor air quality in the summer can be commonplace not just on the east coast but throughout the country.

Along with air quality, there are other possible weather issues MLB must consider after this week. Extreme heat, flooding, and hurricanes can force the league to postpone more games. It’s an issue that baseball has to confront and this week was a reminder that there must be answers that allow the league to continue to play (although admittedly, baseball isn’t the priority for tackling the extreme weather).

The first thing that can be expected is a push for teams to move indoors. More accurately, teams will need to build ballparks in the future that are open-air but have the ability to play with a closed roof. Baseball fans know the pleasant feeling of sitting in a ballpark on a nice summer night and watching the sunset while taking in the experience. That shouldn’t be taken away from fans. However, baseball needs to prepare for a time when there are weather issues and make it possible to still attend games without health risks. This week was a reminder that baseball needs to adapt sooner rather than later.

Other Takeaways From The Week in Baseball

• The Tampa Bay Rays took two of the three games in the weekend series against the Texas Rangers. In a matchup between the two best teams in the American League, the series felt like a postseason preview even though it is only June.
• The Pirates took two of three this weekend and have won seven of their last 10 games. In a division where it seems like nobody wants to win, they are in first place again with a 34-30 record. That record, by the way, would have them in last place in the American League East Division.
• The Oakland A’s have been the laughingstock of baseball this season and oftentimes, a basket case. Yet, they’ve won five games in a row. They still have the worst record in baseball at 17-50 but the Kansas City Royals at 18-47 are not far behind.

Main Image: Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

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