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It’s been a weird season so far, right? Like, everybody feels that way? Looking at the standings on Thursday morning, the longest streak for any team right now is the Angels six losses in a row, everybody else is just kind of bumping around with a few wins or losses, only three teams in the AL have a record better than .500 (none of them are in the AL Central! One of them is the A’s!) The Phillies currently have the worst run differential in baseball at -47 which honestly is surprising, for everything that has gone wrong for that team I didn’t think a totally sputtering offense would be one of them. Although on that note, the Giants are the only team yet to score 100 runs, they’re currently sitting at 97. Numbers!
Today’s Headlines
Olson Of Mine
One team that isn’t in the doldrums is Atlanta, who are on a modest three-game winning streak but are currently seven games up in the NL East over the Marlins. Atlanta is also the only team in their division with a winning record. They got off to a quick start on Wednesday, as Ozzie Albies hit a two-run dinger in the bottom of the first to put the home team up early:
Bullpen, More Like Snakepit
The NL East has one team with a winnings record. The AL Central has none (the Guardians are leading the division with a 16-16 record.) The most competitive division in baseball is, of course, the NL Central. Just like we all thought would be the case coming into the year. Only three and a half games separate the division-leading Reds(!) (who also have a -5 run diff) from the fifth-place Pirates (who are 16-15 and at risk of turning the Central into Just Yet Another Division) and on Wednesday the fourth-place Brewers did themselves no favors, falling to the Diamondbacks 6-2. DB retired 13 in a row
The starters for both teams were nothing to write home about, as Brandon Sproat only gave Milwaukee 4.1 innings, giving up four runs, all earned, on six hits and two walks, while striking out five. Arizona got a slightly better performance from Eduardo Rodriguez, who stuck around on the bump for 4.2 innings and gave up two runs (both earned) on five hits, four walks, and with a quartet of strikeouts.
It was once the starters left that the game that things got serious. For Arizona, at least. The Gink was indeed there, as Kevin Ginkel was the first guy called on out of the pen. He gave up a single to Luis Rengifo but that marked the end of any Brewers getting on base, as the Diamondbacks’ relievers would go on to retire the next 13 batters in order. The box score:
Ginkel: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Juan Morillo: 1 IP, 1 K
Taylor Clarke: 1 IP, 1 K
Paul Sewald: 1 IP, 1 K
(I’m seeing triple, nine 1 IP, 1 K performances!)
Enjoy Sewald striking out Tyler Black to end the game:
By The Numbers
22 game hitting streak going for Ildemaro Vargas, fourth-longest streak to start a season since 1937. He needs to get a hit this afternoon to match Edgar Renteria’s mark from 2006.
18 game walk streak for Nick Kurtz, that’s the third-longest streak since 1900. He needs one more walk today to catch Ted Williams’ streak from 1941.
Best Moments From Yesterday
GI4UDP
The Miami Marlins just won their series against the Dodgers, winning the rubber game on Wednesday. It was a hard-fought trio of games, with each team winning by just a run in each contest. It looked like the Dodgers may be on the winning end of the final game as Miami has walked the bases loaded (with one out thanks to a sac bunt from Alex Freeland) and Freddie Freeman up at the plate. Maybe LA would even win by more than one run!
Or, you know, something totally different.
A Real Glue Guy
The Yankees have made a flurry of roster moves this week, culminating (for now) with them calling up top pitching prospect Elmer Rodríguez to start in the finale of their series against Texas. Elmer has been tearing up AAA this year, with a 1.27 ERA over four starts and 21.1 innings. His debut wasn’t as sparkling, and his final line was 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3K. But that first strikeout was pretty eventful:
Injuries and Other Moves
⚾ Atlanta is bringing Spencer Strider back from the IL this weekend, he’s currently penciled in to be activated on Sunday for a start against the Rockies…in Coors. ‘Still ILL’ for sure.
⚾ The Red Sox placed their struggling ace Garrett Crochet on the IL with shoulder inflammation. That’s a very vague prognosis and I would imagine we’ll get more clarity on things as more imaging comes in.
⚾ Trevor Rogers is on the IL due to illness. The O’s haven’t given any more details but going straight to the IL means it’s gotta be something pretty rough.
⚾ Tyler Soderstrom has whiplash, the A’s don’t expect him to miss much time but he may miss at least one more game.
⚾ Detroit got a double whammy, placing Casey Mize (right adductor strain) and Javier Báez (right ankle sprain) on the IL yesterday, calling up Enmanuel De Jesús and Jace Jung to replace them on the roster.
⚾ The Cubs may be getting Daniel Palencia back as soon as Friday.
⚾ Randal Grichuk, Carlos Carrasco, Eloy Jiménez, and Joey Lucchesi were all DFA’d by their respective teams.
Articles You Should Read
ABS, Technology, and the Precarious Balance Between Human and Machine – Christopher Barnett
MLB labor talks will begin in the next couple weeks. What’s the process, and what’s at stake? – Evan Drellich, The Athletic (gift link)
Roki Sasaki Splits the Difference – Craig Goldstein, Baseball Prospectus (sub req’d)
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