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Today’s Headlines
Cardinals Deal Three Pitchers to AL Contenders
The Cardinals’ disappointing season has finally resulted in a raising of the white flag: their team finally pulled the trigger on selling off a few of their rental arms.
The bigger of the two deals sent left-handed starter Jordan Montgomery and right-handed reliever Chris Stratton to the Texas Rangers for prospects Tekoah Roby, Thomas Saggese, and reliever John King. This move continues to bolster the Rangers’ rotation after the acquisition of Max Scherzer yesterday and provides additional relief depth.
The other trade sent right-handed reliever Jordan Hicks to the Blue Jays for Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein. The Blue Jays acted quickly after closer Jordan Romano hit the 15-day IL yesterday. Hicks has a 3.67 ERA with 8 saves in 41.2 IP.
Angels Continue to Go All-In, Add 2 Bats
The Angels are throwing in all of their chips for this season after they made the determination that Shohei Ohtani would not be traded. As they acquired two arms from the White Sox in Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez earlier this week, the club added on the offensive side last night with outfielder Randal Grichuk and first baseman C.J. Cron from the Colorado Rockies.
As for their performance this year, Grichuk is slashing .312/.367/.502 with 8 HR and Cron is slashing .259/.300/.473 with 11 HR. Grichuk will provide much-needed outfield depth with Taylor Ward getting placed on the IL yesterday. Cron may replace Mike Moustakas at first base, who the Angels acquired from the Rockies a month ago. The Rockies will receive prospect pitchers Jake Madden and Mason Albright in return.
Best Moment From Yesterday
Birthday Boy Walk-off in Pittsburgh
The Pirates walked off the Phillies yesterday with a bomb from Josh Palacios, who happened to also be celebrating his birthday. This marks just the fourth time this century that a player has hit a walk-off on their birthday. While this might be a slightly cherry-picked stat, Palacios joins elite company in Andruw Jones, Barry Bonds, and Alex Rodriguez. Not a bad group to be a part of!
Welcome to the party. pic.twitter.com/E6Q3c4sdaY
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 30, 2023
Injuries & Transactions
Atlanta Braves acquired Nicky Lopez from the Kansas City Royals for Taylor Hearn.
Los Angeles Angels placed Taylor Ward on the 10-day IL.
Cincinnati Reds placed Jonathan India on the 10-day IL.
Texas Rangers placed Nathan Eovaldi on the 15-day IL.
Articles You Should Read
See where Arraez stands in pursuit of .400 — Christina de Nicola
Rangers Land Scherzer in 2023 Deadline’s First Blockbuster Trade — Michael Baumann
Fantasy Baseball
Sit/Start Week 18: Reviewing All Starting Pitcher Matchups From 7/31 – 8/6 — Lucas Zenobi