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MLB News & Moments You Should Know: 8/22/2024

We're talking WBC and Bhutan Baseball, separately!

Asher Dratel
MLB Morning News 8/22/2024

Stay updated on everything baseball with our morning MLB News & Moments articles. We’ve got you covered to keep you in the know.

We’re entering the home stretch of the 2024 season sooner than I would like, and I’m pretty shocked that even the favorites have been showing some holes this summer. Should make for a pretty dramatic September, if nothing else!

 

Today’s Headlines

 

Don’t Cry Because It’s Vottover, Smile Because It Joehappened

And that’s how we all found out that Joey Votto was hanging up his spikes, retiring after 17 years of providing endless entertainment to us baseball watchers. Did you know that Votto only had three seasons with a wRC+ below 120? According to Jay Jaffe’s JAWS statistic over at Baseball-Reference, Votto is the 12th-best first baseman in baseball history, coming in right behind future HoFer Miguel Cabrera, and ahead of legends like Willie McCovey, Harmon Killebrew, and Hank Greenberg.

Votto has given us a wealth of fun stuff to write about in these recap articles, and his enjoyment of the game was on full display even when he was working through an injury in 2023 and spent some time in the booth for the Reds broadcast:

Part of me is a little sad he never made it onto the field as a Blue Jay this year, especially since they just wrapped up a series against the Reds, but it was a heck of a run and I am definitely looking forward to his induction speech in Cooperstown in 2029.

The WBC Hype Starts…Now

That’s right, mark your calendars folks! 2026 is gonna be here sooner than any of us are ready for, so here’s your pool play bracket:

Once again, Miami will play a central role in hosting the games, and I’m still struck that it seems a little rude to send the Czechia team all the way to Asia for their pool play, but I’m very excited to see those guys take the field again and I guess they kind of became folk heroes in Japan after the last WBC. I know the entire event is still kind of controversial, but I have really, truly enjoyed watching the last couple of Classics, and the players are really bought in on it at this point despite the imperfect schedule timing of the whole thing.

For more details about the next WBC, recaps of the teams in each pool, and notes about which games to look out for, MLB.com has a whole primer up and ready for your perusal.

Elly Bags 60

That’s right, Elly De La Cruz has sixty stolen bases and it’s not even September.

He may be the fifth player since 1901 with a 20/60 season, but he’s the first shortstop to ever do it.

It seems pretty likely that Elly will double his already considerable SB total from 2023 by hitting 70 this year, while also putting up a .262/.345/.493 slash line, good for a 127 wRC+. Add on his elite fielding (his +10 OAA ranks him Top 20 in all of baseball across all positions) and it’s pretty easy to see why he’s put up 5.4 fWAR this season, good for eighth best among qualified hitters in 2024.

Standing Cuet-O

The Angels called upon Johnny Cueto to start on Wednesday night, which meant he got to take the mound in Kansas City, and when he left in the seventh inning the fans made sure he knew how much they still appreciated his role on the 2015 World Series champs:

Cueto did take the loss, as the Angels fell 0-3 to the Royals and he only tallied one strikeout against eight hits and two walks, but 3 ER in 6.1 IP is a pretty respectable line for a guy who has spent the season until this week grinding in Triple-A for the Rangers and Angels. Post-game, he told reporters “It’s an unbelievable feeling. I came here in 2022 with the White Sox [and then] here today. It’s an amazing experience. I feel very blessed, very thankful for the fans, for the ovations and everything. And I’m very thankful to Salvy and my teammates who won the championship with me, too.”

How can you not be at least a little romantic about baseball?

Verlander Returns

In some good news for Houston’s beleaguered pitching staff, last night saw the return of Justin Verlander:

JV’s final line was 5 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, and 6 strikeouts, and he was stuck with the L as Houston lost 4-1 to Boston. Both earned runs came in the first two innings, after which Verlander settled down and went 1-2-3 in the third, fourth, and fifth. He’ll look forward to keeping that momentum going for the rest of the season now that the neck soreness that’s kept him on the shelf since June seems to be behind him.

 

Best Moments From Yesterday

 

A New High Water Mark For Soto

Elly isn’t the only guy setting new career highs, as Juan Soto hit his 36th home run of the season, which sets a new single-season high for him:

I’m honestly kind of surprised this is his season high, but I suppose that’s a byproduct of underrating how complete of a hitter he is with a willingness to take the walk or just lace a single the other way if need be. Either way, I look forward to him hitting several more dingers between now and whenever the Yankees season comes to a close, as they take back sole possession of the AL East by a scant half-game over Baltimore.

And let’s not forget the guy hitting right behind him in the order, as Aaron Judge hit two more dingers, bringing his own season total up to a whopping 47. He’s actually on pace to hit 60 again this year.

Boogie Down Bhutan

Staying in The Bronx for a minute, prior to last night’s game, the Yankees were joined by players from the Bhutan Baseball & Softball Association:

 

You may remember hearing about the baseball scene in Bhutan last summer, as the association went viral thanks to easily one of my favorite baseball photos ever taken:

Pretty cool to see the players stateside getting to enjoy games in person, and hopefully this means the baseball scene in Bhutan continues to grow.

A First Timer And A First Dinger

Hey, it’s rookie milestone time!

On Wednesday afternoon, newly prompted Tigers shortstop Trey Sweeney hit his first big-league home run in only his third MLB game:

Sweeney went to Detroit from the Dodgers at the deadline as part of the deal for Jack Flaherty, and it seems like the team is gonna give him some runway this year to see what they’ve got, and his parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle, brother, and friends from high school and college got to see him go yard for the first time as the Tigers took down the Cubs 8-2. Sounds like a good trip to the park.

Meanwhile, out in Oakland, J.T. Ginn got to see his first MLB action from the mound, and it went about as well as one could hope for:

Ginn worked around a two-out walk in the eighth and then pitched another 1-2-3 inning in the ninth to complete his debut performance with aplomb. Unfortunately, the A’s weren’t able to make up a two-run deficit and ended up on the wrong end of a 4-2 score against the Rays, but as you can see from the above clip, his friends and family didn’t seem overly concerned about that.

 

Injuries and Other Moves

 

⚾ The Yankees placed Luis Gil on the IL with a lower back strain, which cut his last start short. Will Warren has been called back up as the corresponding move.

⚾ St. Louis has optioned infielder Nolan Gorman to AAA, amid struggles on both sides of the ball this year.

 

Articles You Should Read

 

This Week in Meatballs, Whomps per Whiff, and Other Novelty Stats – Ben Clemens, FanGraphs

Joey Votto Never Exceeded his Expectations, but was Everything Baseball Needed – C. Trent Rosecrans, The Athletic (sub req’d)

 

Fantasy Baseball Coverage

 

Is It Legit?

Closing Time

Starting Pitcher Streamers

Asher Dratel

Asher hails from Brooklyn, wears a 2008 Joba Chamberlain jersey to every Yankees game he attends, and pronounces BABIP funny. Appreciator of Beefy Lad dingers and beers. @asherd.xyz on Bluesky.

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