Everything Lines Up

 

There's a plot point in the second Thor movie, which isn't very good, where like 9 different realms or universes are going to line up at the same time, like a solar eclipse but more cosmic, and it only happens once every hundreds of thousands of years and of course it's happening during the events of this film. Like when else would everything come together like that? This Milwaukee Brewers team is acting similarly to that alignment, because this team is consisting of so much random shit that may not ever align this way again. Could this be the best season of Jacob Misiorowski's career? Is this the peak of Jake Bauers's improbable comeback? Will we ever see Garrett Mitchell this healthy again? Will we ever see Logan Henderson healthy at all again? It's funny how it's all working out.

And let's be clear, there's already a lot of Brewers that have missed this window. Quinn Priester will not be appearing this season. Brandon Woodruff might have overworked himself into another shortened season. And this moment might not even require Jeferson Quero, Jett Williams or Jesus Made. Maybe it will, maybe they'll be late callups. But everything this Brewers team has done has been without those guys, and with this ever-shifting mass of very intriguing people.

To give you an idea. The only constant this season in the Milwaukee outfield has been Garrett Mitchell. AKA the guy that usually gets hurt a week into the season. Everyone else has missed time. Chourio obviously had his first month out, Perkins has been in and out, Frelick just went on the IL, Lara just came up, Lockridge is hurt. Mitchell's been the constant, and he's hit .277 with an .826 OPS, 8 homers and 45 RBIs. Far and away Mitchell's fullest season to date, and 5 years into his career. He's currently got Chourio and Lara flanking him, so that's a little more consistent, and Lara is beginning to pick things up. Also, Chourio is having the kind of year where, if he hadn't missed a month, he'd be getting MVP votes. 

I also think it's wild that Shane Drohan and Logan Henderson have swung in to replace Brandon Woodruff and Kyle Harrison, and they've done a bang-up job. Drohan had another strong start yesterday, he's got a 3.20 ERA, 76 Ks and a 5-3 record, he might be something for these guys. Henderson's fantastic too but he needs to stay healthy. Brandon Sproat is slowly getting his ERA down with some better starts, and Robert Gasser's doing his best, obviously waiting for Harrison to come back. I also think Craig Yoho has swung into the bullpen at the right time, and might be a keeper. 

I still think they're the secret team to beat in the NL this year, and they might go about as far this year as they did last year. The Dodgers and Braves have had off weeks, the Brewers have been pretty steady throughout. I think something can be done here, and though a lot of this team's window may close very soon, there's enough bubbling that they could stay this good for a while.

Coming Tonight: From a swing-in starter to a lights-out closer, a guy who's finally found the right niche with the Rangers.

Infrequent Shopper

 

The Chicago White Sox have won 3 of their last 5 games by scoring 9 or more runs, just got Munetaka Murakami back after the Home Run Derby, saw one of their guys hit the only home run at the All-Star Game, and now they might be BUYING at the deadline? They're still in first, they're over .500...they're a major player in the AL. They might be scouting for trades. YES, THESE GUYS. Just last year they were sellers and now they can actually afford to make some deals. How insane is that?

The really impressive part is that there's not a hell of a lot on this team that truly needs to be upgraded. The catching position's a little slow, but Kyle Teel was hurt for half the season so it's understandable. Maybe one more OF bat would help? Braden Montgomery's heating up, Tristan Peters is THE guy and Sam Antonacci's having a strong season, but is there a power guy that's a little more varied than Andrew Benintendi out there? Or was that just Murakami? It may need to be rotation depth honestly. Anthony Kay, Noah Schultz and Erick Fedde have done fine, but the drop-off is real. There needs to be somebody else that can supplant Martin and Burke. Maybe this is where one of the Royals guys goes? Maybe Michael King goes here? Who knows. 

At the moment, the White Sox are coming off some very impressive offensive work, and though they got shut out by the Jays today, they scored 12 runs off of them yesterday, including production by both Montgomerys, Sam Antonacci, Tristan Peters, Kyle Teel...and Chase Meidroth, who's quietly having another nice season. Meidroth last year was a forerunner for a lot of the youth movement, he came in before Quero, Teel or Colson Montgomery got here and was strong when nearly no one else is. A better full-squad showing this year has allowed Meidroth to fade into the background a little more, but he's still hitting .271 with 7 homers and 32 RBIs. He's a nice, steady mid-lineup bat with defensive perks. The White Sox are piling up lots of guys like that and have finally given way to actual tentpoles [Murakami, Vargas, Colson Montgomery]. Which is why the team works now, an actual order and dichotomy has emerged, and it's not just 'young guy hits single x9'. Vargas has become the guy, Murakami has cornered the market on power, Antonacci and Meidroth have a niche as contact guys, and Colson Montgomery's the oddball clutch homer guy. It works a lot better.

The idea here is to keep ahead of Cleveland and ensure that the predictable outcome [of Cleveland or Detroit winning anyway] doesn't snap on. The White Sox do have the power numbers, and the pitching stability, to do it but the inexperience of this team still worries me, and still could keep them from going all the way. It's really good come down to how the White Sox manage the deadline, and if enough of this momentum holds. 

Coming Tomorrow- An outfielder who always seems to get injured right before the door opens for him to start. Which has made this season, a solid and healthy one for him, a relief. 

Sonny Came Home

 

So. After starting the season with a disastrous run, losing Alex Cora and putting the future of the youth core in jeopardy, the Boston Red Sox have won 12 straight. Including 2 against the Rays. While, on one hand, cutting down the Rays a bit is good for the Yankees...the Red Sox may have transformed into a good team right before our eyes. They're in 3rd place now, at .500, might not even be selling anymore...and could be a serious problem.

I think the most indicative player on this team is Sonny Gray. They traded for him to get some kind of veteran presence on the team, it cost them Hunter Dobbins and Richard Fitts, fine whatever. Gray's April wasn't very good. And so people worried he was washed, as they did last year, and that the Sox made a rash decision. Then he evened out. And as it stands, Gray is currently 11-1 with a 2.54 ERA, a 1.098 WHIP and 85 Ks. One of the most under the radar great seasons in baseball, and it's been the backbone of this Sox team as they've inched their way back up. Gray is looking better than he has since Minnesota, and he's the ideal guy to lead them into the heat of this season.

A lot of 'ooh, I don't know about that' guys have been the center of the Sox comeback. Willson Contreras obviously, he was a supposed dead end financially, yet now he's the power 1st baseman they've needed since Devers' numbers, and mood, dipped. Contreras has a .921 OPS, 20 homers and 61 RBIs. Caleb Durbin was the Brewers' collateral to make room for Jett Williams [who still hasn't come up, by the way], and he's become a fairly decent corner bat, with improved 3rd base defense and some production. Jake Bennett was a 'well, if you insist' call-up and now he's got a 2.64 ERA in 8 starts. Even Patrick Sandoval seems to be back to his old tricks and helping this team.

That doesn't mean I'm not still concerned about the organizational depth. Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell have all been non-factors for this team. Jarren Duran is a .200 hitter who's barely above replacement level, despite his best efforts. Anthony Siegler and Tsung-Che Cheng have been decent filling in for infielders that are hurt, but are they the answers or just temporary solutions? I know it's not an issue if the team keeps winning games, but is this sustainable? Or is it just a passing summer fling that no one will remember in a year.

The Sox are hot, have leverage, and don't even need all their best pieces to win games. That's a dangerous skill. Doesn't automatically make them a playoff team, but it's more intriguing than most of what I saw from them in the first half.

Coming Tonight: A young second baseman whose team kicked the crap out of Toronto last night, putting THEM in last in the AL East. 

A Different Kind of Air Quality Concern

 

D'you think they're sitting in the Coors Field clubhouse, prepping for a game which is likely gonna have multiple longballs and unstable pitching, going 'gather round, the Pirates have called the game due to an air quality concern. Can...can teams do that?' The Rockies have had an air quality concern for 33 years now. They somehow got to a World Series in 2007, even with said air quality concern. I mean the smoke in the Northeast is bad, maybe it'll screw up the Pittsburgh humidor yet again, but...the Rockies are hearing this going 'thicker air?? what a concept'. Kyle Freeland's gonna find something to burn down so he can pitch decently again. 

Anyway, the Rockies are still last in the NL West and expected to stay there, but it's not without some fun performances from the hitters. Any way you look at it, this team has gotten great production from T.J. Rumfield, Hunter Goodman, Jake McCarthy, Cole Carrigg, Troy Johnston, Mickey Moniak and Kyle Karros. That's...more than a few. The issue with the 2025 team was not just the atrocious pitching, it was the anonymity of the lineup, the lack of power in a power park, all of the above. When you get guys who can mesh well with the park, and when they're all working, even if it's a bad team you're still going in the right direction. Cole Carrigg's been in the league for 31 games, and he has an .871 OPS, 22 RBIs and 4 homers. McCarthy is a .300 hitter after the D-Backs let him come over here, he's got 10 homers and a team-leading 53 RBIs. I did not expect Jake McCarthy to have more RBIs than Hunter Goodman, but here we are. Happy for him honestly, he was really struggling in Phoenix. Rumfield is getting some Rookie of the Year buzz, he's been skillfully on target without being solely a power bat; same thing with Troy Johnston. And then Goodman's 5 homers away from his 2025 total, so he's probably gonna be chasing 35+, maybe even 40. 

That's half the battle right there, this team can put their heads together and score runs, and it's not a full on cop-out every game. The pitching still leaves a lot to be desired, and the early lead the bullpen had has been basically shattered, with Victor Vodnik, Juan Mejia and Zach Agnos all having very rough seasons. Somehow Jordan Romano hasn't shat the bed too greatly yet, but it's early. Tomoyuki Sugano's hurt, so now it's down to Ryan Feltner and Gabriel Hughes to be the only people in the rotation to seem to be able to keep runs down this year. Michael Lorenzen is 3-9 with a 6.22 ERA. YEESH. Even if the team's hitting, this pitching staff still isn't it, and bringing in young, efficient options hasn't helped because it's impossible to pitch competently if half your season's played in Denver. It's purely impractical at this point. At least the Vegas stadium is gonna be domed. 

There's still fun to be had with this team. Maybe a trade or two, maybe some more breakouts, maybe some genuine promise from Carrigg, maybe even a Zac Veen appearance. But whatever happens will mostly be a side-plot to this already convoluted year, sad to say. Maybe some of this will carry over to next year, provided there's actually baseball next year.

Coming Tomorrow- Somehow one of the most consistent veteran pitchers left in the game if Verlander and Scherzer both retire. 

Off the Walbert

 

The Anaheim Angels. Do people still go to games? Actually yeah, they still draw. Is Mike Trout sticking around? Probably, out of necessity at this point. Is there anything else really going on with this team this year? Not really.

The Angels are currently tied for the worst record in baseball with the Royals, with the Rockies a half game ahead. I'm kinda relieved this season isn't gonna have a mega-loser getting the bottom spot. Maybe some teams will lose 100 games, and it wouldn't shock me if the Angels lose 41 more games, but it's not like a 'worst ever' thing is happening this season. Then again, 'best ever' isn't exactly a competition either, as a lot of teams are more middle-of-the-road than anything. So what does that make the Angels? Just a regular bad team, I guess. Not painfully bad, not franchise-endingly bad. Just bad. And that's alright.

The Angels are led by three halfway decent rotation pieces, one of which is probably getting traded, one of which could potentially be traded, and the other is far too young and controllable to be traded but nothing's counted out. Reid Detmers is probably on the way out, he's pitching too well for his 3-6 record. Soriano maybe as well, he had a Cy Young case going but has evened out. But look at Walbert Ureña underneath them. 22 years old, brand new to the league, given a starting spot a month in, now he's got a 2.88 ERA, 78 Ks and a 1.6 WAR. His WHIP's a little high at 1.316, mostly from all the walks he gives up, but he's a pretty smooth, trustworthy young kid that could be a foundational piece for this Angels team. Then again I thought David Fletcher was gonna be a foundational piece for these teams and look how well that turned out.

The current incarnation of this lineup is actually a working model, and everybody who's stayed in this roster has a reason to be there. Denzer Guzman's getting starts at third, he's not terrific yet but the production's beginning to pop a bit. Wade Meckler's a decent depth outfield piece, and he's a .307 hitter with some random, Tristan Peters-esque everyman quality. Schanuel and Neto are the pillars, they're doing pretty well. Soler's past his prime but still hits the odd home run. Adell's good for cheap thrills. And Mike Trout still has a .863 OPS, 18 homers and 39 RBIs. It's not quite 2012 numbers but he's still more active than he's been in a while, and that's worth a lot to this team.

There really won't be much for this team to accomplish for the rest of the season sadly, other than some stuff for Trout's highlight reel and perhaps some previews for, hopefully, a fuller youth-decked version of this team next year. Grayson Rodriguez is gonna get more starts, but will they be closer to his Baltimore prime? Caden Dana will get another shot, but will this time be any different? Christian Moore will be back, but will he hit well against teams that aren't the 2025 Yankees? It'll all get figured out, and even if it doesn't, Angels fans will still flock to games.

Coming Tonight: He made it out of Arizona, and now in Denver he's somehow even more integral.

Press Restart?

 

As we speak, the Mets are currently handily conquering the Philadelphia Phillies on their home turf, which, to be fair, wasn't especially difficult for the AL to do the other night. And now, I assume, people are going to try to position this as a Mets second half comeback. They shouldn't.

The Mets are a team built on broken promises. The most important promises were to Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, and it was the promise of continued success. Both players were making the playoffs a lot more frequently before they ended up in New York. Lindor got to a World Series with Cleveland, Soto got to a World Series with the Nats and Yanks. Can they get to one with the Mets? Not this Mets team. You can see broken promises all the way down, like the promise of Luis Robert to be a superstar, or the promise of Bo Bichette to flip the family legacy and improve defensively, or the promise of Mark Vientos to deliver on what the 2024 postseason was teasing. So far this season the big additions have either gotten hurt or struggled mightily, the big stars are fighting with each other, and the rookies are doing the brunt of the work. 

Christian Scott, Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, Zach Thornton and Jonah Tong should not matter this much to a team with this many all-stars on it. Yet none of them are delivering, so fine, the rookies will do. Thankfully Benge and Ewing were both ready, and are some of the few bright spots on this Mets team. Ewing is 21, and looking more confident than most 21-year-olds in his position, hitting .276 with 7 homers and 24 RBIs, plus a .789 OPS, in 57 games. He's currently leading the charge against Philly. This guy, as well as Benge, who's got 11 homers and 37 RBIs, could be dictating the next decade of Mets baseball, along with Nolan McLean if he figures things out a little more [then again Kershaw's sophomore year was kinda rough too].

But...at this point you have to wonder how much more of this Juan Soto is willing to take. The Mets' rise with him hasn't been immediate, which is already kind of a shock, but when the Yankees are still good without him, the buyer's remorse has to be a little real. Soto's still elite, he's got a .967 OPS, 21 homers and 51 RBIs, but would those RBIs be closer to 70 with a better team? He left the Nats and Padres because he wanted a unit, and he left the Yankees because....the Mets felt like more of a unit than the Yankees? I'm gonna go to my grave not understanding this, especially if current trends persist. We'd still get Bellinger, it'd be fine, but...it's a vexing move, even now.

The Mets will likely be a little better than they were, and become the second-half spoiler they usually are. But this is still not a competitive team, even with all these new guys giving their all. Maybe it will be next year, who knows. But this strategy needs to be rethought, seriously. A.J. Ewing was not meant to be the takeaway. Nice that he is, but he's salvaging a flawed situation.

Coming Tomorrow- That rookie Angels pitcher I was teasing this morning.

Can't Get There From Here

 

The Royals and the Reds are two teams that people thought would be doing a lot better by now than they actually are. They're in danger of selling. It is possible they can still deliver...but how?

The Reds made the playoffs last year, and got to play the Dodgers. That was their first problem. Their second was the continued revolving door of young, hard-throwing pitchers, which is once again causing them trouble this season. They just got Hunter Greene back, and he's slowly getting back to his old self, but they just lost Nick Lodolo, they're without Brandon Williamson again, and Rhett Lowder, while healthy, just doesn't have it right now. They have Andrew Abbott, Chase Burns and Greene all working...but the way this team works, the second something starts working or an element is added, something else will fall off. Eventually Lodolo will come back, it's a blister issue, but can they hold onto that before something else goes wrong?

The lineup is a different issue entirely. They have everybody in one place but most of them aren't doing anything. Eugenio Suarez was brought here to hit homers like he did last year, and he's hit only 11 thanks to injuries and general inefficiency. Stephenson, McLain, Friedl and Marte are all bowling gutter balls. McLain still struggling to meet .200 after everything he was supposed to do feels insulting. It's really down to Sal Stewart, Elly de la Cruz and J.J. Bleday to do all the work, with occasional assistance by Spencer Steer, who at least has 14 homers and 35 RBIs, and Nathaniel Lowe, who's also still an RBI machine. But it's a limp lineup with next to nothing to say, and when even the Pirates and Cardinals have more to offer, you're sort of stuck.

The thing about the Reds is I don't think they can sell too much because they're still in the rebuilding phase, but who knows if someone who's been there all decade, like Stephenson or Antone, will get dealt.

The Royals are a bit more open about what they're gonna be doing. The contracts are gonna go. Wacha's probably leaving, Lugo's probably leaving, maybe a few others. It's not the kind of thing where the big stars like Witt, Caglianone or Garcia are in danger, but there's a way for this team to still compete in the future without sinking under their own ambition.

And you can still see the Royals clinging to 2024 with this roster. Michael Massey's still out there trying to play everyday, and while he's better at it than he was he hasn't really gotten anywhere. Vinnie Pasquantino still isn't the guy he was supposed to be, and this year he's been very quiet, with 6 homers and 32 RBIs. Bubic and Ragans are working solutions but they haven't been sustainable this year, much like Carlos Estevez, Kyle Isbel and Jonathan India. You're seeing things evolve slightly, like Isaac Collins's decent work as an OF bat, Tyler Tolbert and his consecutive hits, and especially Carter Jensen getting reps behind the plate. Right now he's got 13 homers and 49 RBIs, which is a bit more on-target than the other Royals catcher at the moment, sad to say. Jensen's 22, he's a great hitting catcher, and he's got a future there. That's a start. Same with Caglianone and Witt, it's good that they're succeeding here. But there's just so much that hasn't held up, and the team can't really compete.

Even in a division where most teams are under .500, and a lot of the pack is just as disappointing, the Royals can't match up. They don't really have that x-factor right now, even WITH Caglianone and Witt. Even if they probably have more going for them than the Reds, they're further from competing at the moment. Hopefully both teams get to where they were supposed to eventually, but as it stands now...already looking like a long second half.

Coming Tonight: A rookie pitcher for the Angels who's taken advantage of the ample playing time.