Interesting that MLB is using the Peacock platform to stream games to a national audience. I'd rather watch my Giants on the local Bay Area station but it's kinda cool that both teams announcers are working together this weekend to bring the entire Giants/Phils series to a national audience.
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Rockies are playing decent ball right now.Comment -
The Mets have been ravaged by injuries this season, but it seems a few of the team’s most important players are making strides in their recoveries. Outfielder Michael Conforto and utilityman Jeff McNeil began rehab assignments with Triple-A Syracuse this week. Manager Luis Rojas tells reporters (including Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News) McNeil could rejoin the major league club in the next couple days, while Conforto could return to the big leagues next week. Center fielder Brandon Nimmo isn’t far behind those two, as he could embark on a rehab assignment of his own next week, per Rojas (via Tim Healey of Newsday). Fourth outfielder Albert Almora Jr. is expected back this weekend, having completed his own rehab stint with Syracuse, relays Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (Twitter link).
Conforto and McNeil each went down with hamstring strains on May 16, and both players will apparently return after slightly more than a month on the injured list. Nimmo suffered a left index finger injury in early May that proved more problematic than expected. Originally believed to be dealing with a nerve issue, Nimmo eventually found he’d suffered a ligament tear. Almora has missed just more than a month with a left shoulder contusion.
While the bulk of the Mets recent injury woes has been on the position player side, they’ve also been without key starter Carlos Carrasco all season. The veteran righty went down with a right hamstring strain in mid-March that has proven difficult from which to recover. Carrasco, though, has begun a throwing program off flat ground, per DiComo. There’s still hope he’ll be able to make his team debut at some point next month.
Of course, the Mets most recent injury scare came when NL Cy Young award favorite Jacob deGrom left Wednesday night’s start after three innings because of shoulder soreness. Follow-up testing revealed no issues, and deGrom was able to complete a ten-pitch bullpen session this afternoon, his customary between-starts routine. Rojas said the Mets will take their time in deciding whether deGrom will make his next scheduled start on Monday (via Thosar).Comment -
The Giants can't be this good. They have not had a lull all season.Comment -
Fernando TatÃs Jr. left Saturday's game against the Red with an apparent injury.
Advice: TatÃs Jr. appeared to hurt his shoulder while diving for a baseball. It's worth pointing out that the shoulder is something that has bothered the superstar and has caused a stint on the injured list. More on this story as it develops.Comment -
Diamondbacks catcher Carson Kelly suffered a fractured right wrist after being hit by a pitch from the Dodgers’ Walker Buehler in tonight’s game. Kelly was hit in the bottom of the second inning, and stuck it out for an inning before being replaced behind the plate by Stephen Vogt to begin the fourth.
Depending on the severity of the fracture, Kelly’s season could potentially be in jeopardy, and at the very least he is looking at a lengthy absence. Kelly already missed time back in May with a toe fracture, though that resulted in only a 10-day minimum stint on the injured list.
It makes for yet another down note for Kelly and the Diamondbacks during what has become a nightmarish season in Arizona. Kelly’s performance was one of the few bright spots, as he has a .260/.385/.460 slash line and eight home runs through 187 plate appearances. It was a nice bounce-back showing after a lackluster 2020 season for Kelly, who was acquired from the Cardinals as part of the Paul Goldschmidt trade in December 2018.
Between his solid 2019 numbers and this year’s breakout, Kelly certainly looked to be living up to his billing as the Diamondbacks’ catcher of both the future and the present. Arizona’s miserable season notwithstanding, it didn’t seem like Kelly (if healthy) was a realistic trade candidate, as GM Mike Hazen recently suggested that the D’Backs would look to settle upon an “anchor” group of core players as they reload and hope for better things in 2022. Kelly would seem to fit that billing, as he is controlled through the 2024 season.
While Kelly is out of action, the D’Backs would get a chance to give top prospect Daulton Varsho more of a look behind the plate. Varsho has only 56 games and 159 PA at the big league level over the last two seasons, with more of that playing time coming as an outfielder rather than as a catcher. Varsho and Vogt could potentially split catching duties while Kelly is sidelined, with Varsho also playing the outfield on days when Vogt is starting.Comment -
DBacks so bad, free wins for anyone in n their schedule.Comment -
They need to blow up that shit and start all over again from the ground up.
Snakes have not been relevant since Big Unit was both starting and closing out World Series games and little Lu-Gonz delivering one the most clutch RBI hits in World Series history off of the greatest relief pitcher in baseball history.
2001 NY/Ari World Series was one of the top ten World Series ever played.
Look at the Hall of Fame players that participated in that.
You got your Jeter's and Mo's and Mussina's of the world on the one side, you got your Big Unit on the other side.
They're in, nothing to argue there.
Now look at game 7 on that World Series, you could argue The greatest World Series game ever played.
Now chew on this for a second.
Just focusing on game 7 only.
Clemens started for New York.
Schilling started for Arizona.
Two pitchers who belong in the Hall of Fame but aren't enshrined because of politics and being all around general assholes.
Both starters were magnificent in that pressure cooker game, Clemens actually pitched a tad better as NY led that game 2 to 1 late innings before both managers turned the ball over to relievers.
Look at the two pitchers who closed out that epic affair.
Two Hall of fame pitchers. Mo in the Hall for being the greatest at what he did, Randy Johnson in the Hall for being this generations greatest starting pitcher. (OK if you want to argue Maddux, Pedro, and Clemens were just as good, have at it I won't debate that, but they weren't better than Randy)
Johnson actually outpitched Mo Rivera both went 1.1 innings.
Unit was light out, threw 17 pitches getting four outs of those 17 pitches 12 were strikes.
*side note* being born and raised in the NYC market all New York professional teams are broadcasted live every game every day.
I have seen pretty much every game Rivera has pitched in for 20 years, that game was the only one time I ever have seen Mo pissed off in 20 years, to this day, I don't want to say blame Brosius for that loss, but let's just say Rivera didn't want Scotty that close to he third base line and wanted Brosius to close the middle more with Jeter to his right. The rest is history little Gonzo hit that soft single that got the job done for the Snakes.
Besides mentioning Schilling who should be in the Hall, Mark Grace who did his Hall of Fame body of work with the Cubs belongs in the Hall.
Andy Pettitte for sure belongs too, and Posada for being the dominant catcher in the AL for his ERA.
I do think Bernie Williams should have gotten much more consideration.
Tino and Paulie were on the fence but I wished the two of them got a few more votes than they received.Comment -
yeah gotta win the games you are really supposed to winComment -
The Rays announced they’ll select the contract of top infield prospect Wander Franco prior to Tuesday’s game against the Red Sox. Tampa Bay has lost six straight, falling half a game behind Boston in the American League East. With a three-game series against the division leaders upcoming, the Rays have decided it’s time to bring up the league’s most heralded prospect.
Franco, 20, is seen by public prospect rankers as a transcendent talent. Baseball America has ranked him the game’s top prospect in each of the past two seasons, calling him an “exceptionally advanced” hitter with potential plus raw power and average defense at shortstop. In February, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked Franco as the only 80-grade prospect around baseball, placing him in a tier of his own among non-MLB players. Longenhagen projects him as a top-of-the-scale hitter, raving about his bat control, pitch recognition and raw power, and calls him a possible “generational talent and annual MVP contender.” Keith Law of the Athletic praised Franco’s “ridiculous hand speed,” incredible plate discipline and above-average power projection, suggesting he should immediately be able to post a high batting average and on-base percentage and could be “an MVP candidate at his peak.”
Not only does Franco check all the boxes from a visual evaluation perspective, his minor league performance has been truly incredible. Despite being young for every level at which he’s played, Franco has compiled a .333/.400/.538 line in parts of three professional seasons. He reached Triple-A Durham for the first time in 2021 and showed no signs of slowing down. Through 173 plate appearances with the Bulls, Franco has hit .323/.376/.601 with seven homers despite being the league’s youngest player. Out of 102 qualified hitters in Triple-A East, the switch-hitting Franco ranks seventeenth in on-base percentage and seventh in slugging percentage.
As one might expect for someone who draws such praise for his hit tool, Franco has very rarely gone down on strikes in the minors. His 11.6% strikeout rate in Triple-A this season is the highest of his career, and that’s still less than half the MLB average mark of 23.4%. Over the course of his minor league career, Franco has punched out in just 7.9% of his plate appearances while walking a strong 10% of the time.
Franco is the most talented of a trio of very highly-regarded infield prospects in the Rays system (alongside Taylor Walls and Vidal Bruján). That glut of high minors talent no doubt played a role in Tampa Bay’s decision to trade shortstop Willy Adames to the Brewers for relievers J.P. Feyereisen and Drew Rasmussen last month. Walls got his first big league call in the immediate aftermath of that deal. He’s played quite well, hitting .237/.356/.355 over his first 90 MLB plate appearances while playing strong defense at shortstop.
Walls is generally regarded as a superior defender to Franco, so it remains to be seen precisely how manager Kevin Cash will deploy a talented infield mix that also includes Brandon Lowe, Joey Wendle, Yandy DÃaz and Ji-Man Choi. Regardless of whether the Rays immediately install Franco as the primary shortstop or bounce him around the diamond (he’s seen some action at both second and third base in Durham this year in case he’s needed to play a multi-positional role), it’s safe to assume he’ll be in the lineup on a more-or-less everyday basis in some capacity.
Franco is not yet on the 40-man roster, so the Rays will need to make another move to formally accommodate the selection of his contract. We’re well past the point on the calendar at which a newly-promoted player can accumulate a full year of MLB service. Even if Franco sticks in the majors from here on out, the Rays will thus be able to control him through the end of the 2027 season.
He also seems highly unlikely to crack the Super Two threshold for early arbitration eligibility during the 2023-24 offseason. Franco will earn somewhere in the neighborhood of 105 days of MLB service this year if he remains on the big league roster. That’d put him at approximately 2.105 years at the end of the 2023 campaign. In recent seasons, the Super Two cutoff has come in at 2.115 years of service or above. In all likelihood, Franco won’t reach arbitration eligibility until the conclusion of the 2024 season.
Rays fans will be thrilled to get their first look at a player they no doubt hope will become the face of the franchise. Franco has as good a chance as anyone in the minors of emerging as a true superstar over the coming seasons, and the organization believes him capable of making an immediate impact in the 2021 pennant race. The game has seen an influx of fantastic young talents in recent years. By all accounts, Franco has a reasonable shot to become the next member of that group.Comment -
Cubs bullpen trio of Tepera-Chafin-Kimbrel has a combined scoreless streak of 49.1 innings. That's 5.5 games worth. Insane. Probably gonna ends soon.Comment -
Anybody know the status on Tatis? Dodgers coming to townComment -
Who is the bigger 'surprise' team so far.
The Indians at 9 gems over .500
Or the Red Sox at 13 games over .500
Who saw that coming?Comment -
I know I talk about them all the time but the Giants are probably the biggest surprise of 2021 at 20 games over .500 and sitting atop the NL West. If they make the postseason Gabe Kapler has to be at the top of the list for NL manager of the year and I never thought I'd say that.Comment -
Twins center fielder Byron Buxton suffered a “boxer’s fracture” — a fracture at the base of the fifth metacarpal in his left hand — when he was hit by a pitch during Monday night’s game against the Reds, manager Rocco Baldelli announced to reporters after the contest (Twitter link via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press).
It’s a deflating injury for a Twins club that only just welcomed Buxton back from a month-long absence due to a hip flexor strain this past weekend. Buxton appeared in three games, going 4-for-10 with a home run and a double, before getting hit by a pitch in tonight’s contest. Baldelli was vague when asked about an expected recovery period for Buxton, who is batting .369/.409/.767 with 10 homers, 11 doubles and five stolen bases in just 110 plate appearances this year.
Injuries have been a frequent hindrance for Buxton in recent years, although there’s little he could’ve done about an errant Tyler Mahle fastball that ran up-and-in on his hands (video link). It’s a tough-luck injury for both Buxton and for the Twins, who have rattled off five straight wins as they hope for a season-saving push in the standings in advance of next month’s trade deadline. Clearly, a Buxton injury will do them no favors in that uphill battle.
The Twins have cycled through various options in Buxton’s absence this year, although two in-house alternatives — Jake Cave and Rob Refsnyder — are on the injured list themselves at the moment. Cave’s injury, a fracture in his back, will keep him out for the foreseeable future. Refsnyder is currently mending a hamstring strain. Longtime infield prospect Nick Gordon has been getting his feet wet in center field recently, and right fielder Max Kepler has proven capable of playing a solid center field over the years. Prospect Gilberto Celestino got a brief look as well, but he was making the jump straight from Double-A and struggled considerably in 10 games and 33 plate appearances.
Even with five straight wins under their belts, the Twins are still 10 games under .500, which makes it highly unlikely the organization would sacrifice any young talent for an immediate option to help bridge the gap in Buxton’s latest absence. An in-house patching of the problem, at least in the short term, seems the likeliest route, which likely means some combination of Kepler and Gordon for the time being. Veteran Keon Broxton is on hand in Triple-A St. Paul, but he’s batting just .169/.260/.215 with the Saints and has fanned in nearly half of his plate appearances. He’d give the Twins a competent defensive option, but his offensive woes against Triple-A pitching are rather glaring, to say the least.
It’s worth noting that while the Buxton injury will only further fuel speculation about the Twins’ trajectory at the trade deadline, they’ll at least have one more chance to control their own fate, so to speak. Once the Twins wrap up a brief two-game series against Cincinnati tomorrow, they’ll play exclusively AL Central opponents for nearly a month.
Minnesota hosts the Indians for four games this weekend before a seven-game road trip to Chicago and Kansas City. They’ll close out the first half with seven at home against the South Siders and Tigers before opening the second half with four on the road in Detroit and three more in Chicago. It’d obviously take quite a run in that stretch of divisional play — especially early on — to turn the tides in their 2021 season. But with such a lengthy slate within the AL Central on the horizon, it’s doubtful the Twins will jump the trade market, even in the wake of a potentially crushing injury.Comment -
Boston is definitely the surprise team in the AL although Cleveland really wasn't supposed to be this good with them letting go of Frankie Lindor but somehow they're 10 games over .500 and the closest team to running down the White Sox in the AL Central. I would've thought the Twins would've been better but they've underperformed so far although they have recently picked it up and gotten out of last place in the Central.Comment -
Hopefully JMobile will be on the Dodgers again tonightComment -
Baez benched after not knowing how many outs there were. Polar opposite from his heads up base running a while backComment -
And I heard that for six months about my 2015 KC Royals.
That season worked out just fine for us.
Could the 2021 SF Giants be the 2105 KC Royals all over again?
I'm starting to think so.
And if so, is that really such a bad thing?
Cool, neat story.
You know. Underdog team come from out of nowhere and slays the LA and SD dragons.
I lived that story six years ago. It was fun, a lot of fun.
I'm a MLB fan first, a KC Royals fan second.
I don't dislike SF.
I can easily wrap my arms around a SF Giants 2021 Cinderella story though.Comment -
George Springer finally off the IL and will play CF and bat 5th in the lineup tonight for Toronto.Comment