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Two-thirds of teams were in action yesterday, with dramatic walk-offs, redemption blasts, and the usual assortment of randomness and hijinks rounding out the schedule.
Here are the essential news items from the slate on Monday:
Today’s Headlines
Mondays, Am I Right???
Rough start to the work week for three teams who were walked off on Monday. First up were the Twins, who now have back-to-back walk-off wins, with Carlos Correa doing the honors against the Mariners. Minnesota has now won four in a row and eight of the last ten.
The 1st place @Twins earn back-to-back #walkoff wins! pic.twitter.com/H12QaVAdQ6
— MLB (@MLB) July 25, 2023
Later, resurgent Christian Yelich finished off the Reds with a walk-off single against closer Alexis Díaz. Though just a game and a half separate the two teams from the top of the NL Central, Milwaukee has gone 9-2 against Cincinnati.
.@ChristianYelich comes through in a big divisional game! #walkoff pic.twitter.com/yXlTXOVG9Y
— MLB (@MLB) July 25, 2023
Then it was Houston’s turn. Kyle Tucker sped around third off a Yanier Díaz single, giving the Astros a 10-9 win over the Rangers in the Lone Star series. Houston is just two games behind the Rangers for the AL West lead.
What a way to open up the Lone Star Series! #walkoff pic.twitter.com/eI3tjYDRQ0
— MLB (@MLB) July 25, 2023
Chas McCormick Stays Hot
Another day, another guy from the Astros goes supernova. In July, Chas McCormick was batting .345/.446/.691… before Monday’s performance in which he went 2-for-3 with a homer, double, and 6 RBI.
Chaos! Chas brings his RBI total to 6 for the night and ties the game! pic.twitter.com/YGkGNAAKgd
— MLB (@MLB) July 25, 2023
Pierce Johnson Traded to Atlanta
Baseball’s curveball king, Pierce Johnson, was traded from the Rockies to Atlanta on Monday. It’s a solid pickup for Atlanta, who could use more depth in their bullpen. Though Johnson has struggled mightily, to put it lightly, last month I wrote that his curveball actually looks to be in fine shape and is just getting victimized by Coors Field. In-season home-road splits are notoriously weird, but I’m willing to believe there’s something behind Johnson’s 38.7% strikeout rate and 2.31 FIP when he’s away from Denver this season.
Best Moments From Yesterday
Take a Homer Away from me, Will Ya?
Elly De La Cruz. Oh my.
The scene: in the top of the first, De La Cruz hit an absolute blast of Brewers starter Collin Rea. Two unfortunate truths for De La Cruz were 1) he hit it to the deepest part of the park, and 2) Joey Wiemer did this:
DEFENSIVE RUN SAVED#ThisIsMyCrew | @JWiems17 pic.twitter.com/NZSJrHA8Xm
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 25, 2023
Well, apparently Elly didn’t take too kindly to it, because when he came back around in the third inning (and after some light ribbing from the Brewer scoreboard operator), he smoked a ball so hard Wiemer would’ve had to be in Lake Michigan to rob it.
De La Cruz Missile! 😱
456 feet for Elly. pic.twitter.com/kEJPOTMiv0
— MLB (@MLB) July 25, 2023
Another Milestone for Sal Frelick
In three games in the big leagues, Sal Frelick has hit for a 1.472 OPS, drove in the go-ahead run, made a leaping catch that saved extra bases, and hit his first career home run, coming last night (which also tied the game). Bob Uecker joked that he should retire right now.
This rookie can RAKE! #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/rrKqv9rQcX
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 25, 2023
Injuries
The Cleveland Guardians moved Shane Bieber to the 60-day IL on Monday. The move means Bieber will now be out until at least mid-September as he seeks to recover from right elbow inflammation.
In better news, Adam Wainwright was activated from the 15-day IL and pitched a good game against the Diamondbacks, going five innings and giving up only a couple of runs.
Articles You Should Read
A Mid-Season Update on Save Share Distribution and Arbitration Status – Grant Washburn, Pitcher List
I Have Seen the Fastball of the Future, and it is a Cutter – Mike Baumann, Fangraphs
Fantasy Baseball Coverage
The List 7/24: Top 100 Starting Pitchers
Fantasy Baseball Reliever Rankings
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)