My Reds avoid the sweep by the Phils.
Can't believe Zack Duke is still pitching....
Can't believe Zack Duke is still pitching....
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Giants Mad bum Pitched well yesterday..... probably trade bait now for the contenders........Comment -
Mad Bum still knows how to Yell at somebody that hit a homerun on him though.Comment -
Dodgers bullpen blowing it. Joe KelleyComment -
Joe Kelly killing the Dodgers, also killed them as a Red Sox reliever, lol.Comment -
After signing a one-year, $13MM contract with the Braves last week, left-hander Dallas Keuchel made his first minor league tuneup with their Single-A affiliate Monday. Unsurprisingly, the accomplished Keuchel looked too advanced for the level, throwing seven shutout innings and 77 pitches of one-hit, one-walk ball with nine strikeouts. The soft-tossing 31-year-old’s fastball sat in the high 80s and maxed out at 89, per Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Afterward, Keuchel suggested he could return to the majors following one more minor league start. Braves manager Brian Snitker said that “we’ll talk to [Keuchel] to see where he’s at” after he takes the mound one more time. Barring setbacks, though, Keuchel does seem likely to end up in Atlanta after that outing.
More from around the majors…
- Red Sox pitching prospect Darwinzon Hernandez will make his first career start Tuesday against the Rangers, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com relays. MLB.com ranks the southpaw as the Red Sox’s best pitching prospect and No. 3 overall farmhand. The 22-year-old Hernandez got his first taste of the majors earlier this season with 2 1/3 scoreless innings out of Boston’s bullpen. Hernandez has been a mixed bag in 2019 at the Double-A level, where he has averaged a hefty 13.17 strikeouts per nine but has offset that with an untenable walk rate (7.14 BB/9) and a 5.13 ERA in 40 1/3 frames.
- White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada left the team’s game Monday with upper back tightness, James Fegan of The Athletic was among those to tweet. Moncada’s day-to-day, though he seems optimistic it’s not any kind of serious injury (via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times). The 24-year-old has arguably been the White Sox’s foremost position player this season, having slashed .295/.348/.506 (128 wRC+) with 12 home runs and 2.1 fWAR in 274 plate appearances.
- With the Tigers out of contention and their top hitter, Nicholas Castellanos, not signed past this season, he has largely checked out from a leadership role, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press observes. However, that doesn’t mean Castellanos isn’t working hard. As Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic explains (subscription required), Castellanos has made a real effort to ameliorate his much-maligned defense. A former high school shortstop, Castellanos struggled at the outset of his big league career at third and has continued to have difficulty since moving to the corner outfield in 2017. Castellanos’ defense still isn’t a plus, as Stavenhagen notes, but the metrics have liked the 27-year-old’s work better during his platform season. So has manager Ron Gardenhire, who told Stavenhagen, “He’s on a mission to become a good outfielder, and I think he’s made a ton of improvement.”
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Power ball: D-backs, Phils hit MLB-record 13 HRs
PHILADELPHIA -- The Arizona Diamondbacks got to play Home Run Derby in Philly.
The Diamondbacks hit three straight home runs to open the game and finished with a team-record eight in a 13-8 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in a homer-happy game on Monday night.
Scott Kingery hit two of Philadelphia's five home runs for the combined MLB record of 13 homers in one game, passing the previous mark of 12 by the White Sox-Tigers in 1995 and again by the White Sox-Tigers in 2002.
On most nights, five would be enough to win a game. But not this one in steamy Philly, where the Diamondbacks turned their at-bats into extended batting practice. Jarrod Dyson, Ketel Marte and David Peralta hit the dinger, tater and long ball all in a row off Jerad Eickhoff in the first inning to get the record romp rolling.
RECORD DEAL
The Reds hold the NL record for homers in a game with nine in 1999, and Toronto hit 10 in a game in 1987 for the MLB mark.
UP NEXT
The Phillies send RHP Jake Arrieta (5-5, 4.29 ERA) to the mound against RHP Jon Duplantier (1-0, 3.27) on Tuesday in the second game of the three-game set.Comment -
Ketel Marte has to be on the sauce, little man is a power hitter all of a sudden.Comment -
Kingery has been an intriguing young talent, would love to see him play one position and get consistent PT/ every day at batsComment -
Joe Kelly cost me a win...he always does.Comment -
Jays lose to Orioles, I just want this season to be over with already.Comment -
C`mon Angels, make it two in a row against the Dodgers .
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Hunter pence inside the park homerun tonight .... he still has some wheels......Comment -
Orioles GM Mike Elias addressed the media today regarding an unfortunate development for the team’s pitching staff. The conversation also drifted into the upcoming trade deadline — Elias’s first at the helm of the Baltimore baseball operations department.
In particular, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com covers, the rookie GM discussed the potentially tricky issue of how to handle young outfielder Trey Mancini. The 27-year-old has been the club’s most productive player this year, as Elias readily volunteered. Mancini is controllable through 2022 and will reach arbitration for the first time this fall.
Elias looked to walk a line in his comments, inviting offers while also making clear that he’s not going to just take whatever he can get for the team’s best trade chip. “We’re not looking to part with Trey,” said Elias. “That said, as I’ve said all along, we’re open to anything.”
Elias called Mancini “an integral part of this team.” He also left rather a wide door in discussing what it would take to make a deal. Rather than suggesting that the club would need to be overwhelmed or specifying the type of return he’d want, Elias said a trade would at least be possible if his front office “feel[s] that what we’re getting back is better for the organization than what we’re giving up.”
The rebuilding O’s are focused on the future, giving them ample reason to consider deals while Mancini is in good form. (After all, he wasn’t in 2018.) But it’s not the only option by any stretch. There is still some time left to enjoy Mancini. It never hurts to have at least one popular, homegrown star to please the fans that show up and help bridge to a new period of competitiveness.
If that’s the path that Elias takes, then it certainly would make sense for the club to check in on the possibility of an extension. It doesn’t sound as if talks have occurred to this point, but Elias said that it’s “certainly a thought that’s crossed my mind.” Labeling Mancini a player the team would like to keep “around for the long haul,” the new chief baseball decisionmaker certainly opened the door to that possibility without setting any expectations. Mid-season deals for younger players are rather rare, but some chatter over the winter or next spring would hardly be surprising — if Mancini remains in Baltimore.Comment -
Sox offense at full strength is getting outhit by the Mets and the AAA... did the Sox just get lucky with the pen last year
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not sure many(if any) other player in MLB scores on that play? maybe Baez?
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Dodgers swept by Angels in 2 game seriesComment -
Blue Jays place closer Giles (elbow) on 10-day IL
BALTIMORE -- Things just got worse for the lowly Toronto Blue Jays.
On Wednesday afternoon, closer Ken Giles landed on the 10-day injured list with right elbow inflammation. Giles hasn't pitched since June 5, when he threw a scoreless inning against the Yankees for a second straight day. It was the fourth time this season that he's worked back-to-back days, but his recovery since then has been slower than usual.
"Just gotta play it safe," said the 28-year-old right-hander. "I don't want to put this team in a bigger hole than they need to be."Comment -
Tatis is still no Baez on basepaths, Baez is insane.Comment -
After a strong two-season run in Houston, right-hander Charlie Morton entered free agency last winter as one of the best starters available. Interest in Morton was widespread, thanks in part to the Astros’ decision not to issue him a qualifying offer, though age (35) prevented him from reeling in a long-term deal. Morton ultimately accepted a two-year, $30MM offer from the Rays in December. Six months later, it’s looking like one of the steals of the offseason.
Facing the Athletics on Monday, Morton turned in his second consecutive seven-inning shutout and fourth straight quality start. During that four-appearance, 27-inning rampage, Morton yielded a mere three earned runs on 14 hits and posted 31 strikeouts against four walks. The Rays won all of those games, giving them a 10-4 record when Morton has taken the ball this season. Thanks in part to low-budget Tampa Bay’s decision to splurge (by its standards) on Morton, its sporting one of the American League’s leading records at 41-26
While Morton’s recent production has no doubt boosted his numbers, he has been consistently good all season. Morton’s ERA hasn’t risen any higher than 3.60, where it sat after his initial start of the season, and now rests at a microscopic 2.10. He trails only the Twins’ Jake Odorizzi among AL starters in that category, and most of his other production also ranks near the very top of his league. Take a look…
- FIP: 2.67 (second)
- WAR: 2.6 (fourth)
- xFIP: 3.33 (fourth)
- Weighted on-base average against: .254 (fifth)
- Strikeouts per nine: 10.84 (seventh)
- Expected weighted on-base average against: .271 (seventh)
- Innings: 81 1/3 (15th)
The least impressive figure there is Morton’s innings total, though it still represents a step forward for someone who has long battled durability issues. Morton has never thrown 175 innings in a season, but he’s on pace for almost 200 this year.
We can’t necessarily call this a late-career renaissance because, with all due respect to Morton, his time in the majors wasn’t rife with great moments before he got to Houston. However, a significant rise in Morton’s fastball velocity in 2016 with the Phillies was likely the beginning of his awakening. Unfortunately for Morton and the Phillies, a hamstring tear late that April brought a quick conclusion to his season and, for all intents and purposes, an end to his short run in Philly. He headed to the Astros the next season, which began a 313 1/2-inning stretch of 3.36 ERA/3.53 FIP pitching, and helped the team to a World Series title in 2016.
It was somewhat of a surprise that Houston didn’t make more of an effort to retain Morton after last season, but the Rays have been the beneficiaries of the Astros’ choice. The Rays have gotten a different pitcher than the Astros’ version of Morton, not just in terms of results.
The hard-throwing Morton’s main pitch in 2018 was his four-seam fastball, which he threw at a 31.1 percent rate, according to Statcast. He complemented it with a curveball (29.3 percent), a sinker (27.1), a splitter (6.3) and a cutter (6.3). Now, he’s throwing his curve (36 percent) significantly more than any other pitch, with his sinker (24.2), four-seamer (23.5), cutter (11.8) and splitter (4.4) checking in as his secondary offerings. Morton has lost some velocity since last year, which could at least partially explain his change in approach. At the same time, though, if you’re curve’s as dominant as his, why not throw it as much as possible? The pitch ranks in the league’s 94th percentile as far as spin rate goes, per Statcast, and hitters have mustered a putrid .142/.170 wOBA/xwOBA against it. According to FanGraphs’ pitch values, it’s the premier curve in the AL.
If Morton continues to use his curve this effectively, he may end up in serious contention for the AL Cy Young just one year after fellow Ray Blake Snell won it. In the event Morton wins the award, he and Snell would become the first AL teammates to take home the honor in back-to-back seasons since the Indians’ CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee accomplished the feat in 2007-08. Even better for the Rays, Morton, Snell, Tyler Glasnow (if he returns from the injured list) and opener Ryne Stanek could make for a dominant postseason rotation should the team team clinch a playoff spot.Comment -
Tatis is faster with same aggressive baserunning style and great instincts.
Give him a couple years and let's revisit this.
The Padres have improved but still have a lot of improving to do and things to figure out for the coming seasons. They need to trade some of the outfielders(either Franmil Reyes or Hunter Renfroe will be gone) and maybe a couple prospects for a stud starting pitcher. Gun to my head, I'd keep Reyes over Renfroe.Comment
