Too Close for Comfort

 

We just had a Yanks-Braves series that was as close as a series between two competitive, surging teams should be. Every game was a question mark til the very end. Two went the Yankees' way, one went the Braves, and two of the three were denoted with a horde of terrible umpiring.

I was at the game on Saturday, which, fun fact, was also Old Timer's Day. Fun event as per usual. Hideki Matsui can still rake, Brian Doyle can still hustle, Mariano Rivera can still throw. Once the Braves and Yankees got on, it got slightly less fun because the guy who was umping was likely legally blind and taking it out on everyone else. Dan Merzel is this guy's name, and he seems to be a younger call-up, so it's weird that he's acting up now. It's like becoming the lowest-rated photo editor the year after Adobe Photoshop was released. Like, if you're gonna be obsolete, be good.

Among the things this guy did wrong was giving Spencer Jones an HBP when the ball didn't even touch him, penalizing Austin Wells because Jose Caballero took too long getting to first, being so hard to follow that the Braves lost both their challenges on one play, and some general tomfoolery that the Yanks were thankfully able to call him on. The most egregious crap came against Chris Sale, who Merzel first called a balk on to score a run, which got both Sale AND Walt Weiss yelling at him [Weiss was ejected]. Then before game 3, Chris Sale allegedly made a motion towards Merzel as he entered the field, and was ejected, perhaps because Merzel had waited 24 hours for a reason to eject Sale. This asshole really made the whole game about himself, which is unbelievable.

Now, what was fascinating was seeing someone like Jose Caballero contend with Merzel, because Caballero's antics have been pissing off everyone this year. A friend of mine's getting into baseball, and caught a game in the Bronx last month, and even he was getting annoyed at Cabby's pitch clock violations. Dude just lives in his own universe, a lot like Jazz Chisholm. The good news is, Cabby's been excellent for us, with 12 homers and 41 RBIs, plus 28 steals. He's a really handy guy to have around, and hits way more than your average Taylor Walls type utility man. He's just a little annoying sometimes, and it's better that one of those guys is with us rather than against us. 

That aside, the game went pretty damn well. Ben Rice hit a bomb, his 32nd. I got to see George Lombard Jr.'s second career homer, plus some exceptional infield work at short. Spencer Jones is looking very MLB ready all of the sudden, and Paul Goldschmidt is still excellent against lefties. Plus, Gerrit Cole looked like his old self, shutting down the Braves save for some small ball here and there. Ronald Acuna Jr. also remembered to show up, and hit a solo shot against Brent Headrick, though his shenanigans came off as pretty crass as well. 

The Braves winning yesterday, and keeping every game close, tells me how durable they are even with a slight slide in the last few weeks, and some messy work against the Mets tonight. They still have a terrific power core of Drake Baldwin, Matt Olson, Michael Harris, Ozzie Albies and a lesser but still noteworthy Ronald Acuna performance. They also now have Martin Perez as a very viable rotation option, with 7 wins, a 3.14 ERA and 78 Ks, proving that 35 year olds on the Braves this decade can't be counted out. And the bullpen's still excellent as well, with so many really impressive pieces keeping this team together. They're at 71 wins, still feel like a lock for first, and probably won't even let this New York stretch slow them down.

In conclusion, glad I was able to catch a nice, tight, exciting matchup between these two teams. Last time I did, the Braves had this guy on the mound that killed us, some guy named Max Fried. Hopefully he doesn't have to play the Yankees anymore..

Coming Tomorrow- His team may have taken a huge hit in the last week, but after 13 years of this, he's not about to take it sitting down.

Rays'd Objection

 First of all, this is just an odd picture. Not just Cedric Mullins on the Rays, though that is pretty odd. It's a 90s Rays jersey...but an early 2000s Rays cap. It's mismatched eras. I kinda wish for the HOF weekend thing, they'd have done full throwbacks, and do the vested early 2000s Steve Cox Rays uniforms, but no, it's gotta look weird.

Here's a fun fact about the Rays' schedule going forward. Six of the teams they're set to play going forward are below .500. The Jays, Orioles, Athletics [TWICE], Mets, Tigers. They will eventually play good teams [Braves, Yanks, Sox], but by that point they'll probably have an unreachable lead from playing the A's a ton of times, and the AL East will be called for them. I'd accuse the MLB of rigging the system for the Rays, but they are a very cheap team with a low payroll who'd get very few eyes on them if they made a World Series, so who even knows how this happened.

The Rays did help this by sweeping the Mariners, an actual good team [or at least they were supposed to be], and now they can coast a bit going forward. The O's may chase them a great deal in a couple weeks. I'll be at one of the games in Baltimore, so I sure hope so. 

The trade deadline strengthened what was already an extremely well-engineered Rays team, and now they're looking even better. They already didn't have a ton of issues scoring runs, but now they have Liam Hicks on the team and he's scored like 6 since getting here. Aranda, Caminero and Diaz make up one of the most formidable run-scoring tryptics in the game, which is widely when you consider that Yandy Diaz is 34. Caminero has 33 homers right now and is in no position to slow down. Even Cedric Mullins is helping out with the power game, with 13 homers and 35 RBIs, plus 18 steals. This isn't peak, early 2020s Mullins, but he's still very helpful, and he can still do some cool things. I also think the bench's array of guys like Ben Williamson, Victor Mesa Jr. [who, contrary to my earlier belief, is a different guy than former Marlins prospect Victor Victor Mesa], Jonny deLuca and Ryan Vilade, is extremely helpful. Vilade especially is just built like a ballplayer, this massive thing who can hit really hard. 

The bullpen has overcome some early-May struggles and mellowed into a really nice unit, with Bryan Baker, Kevin Kelly, Ian Seymour and now Tyler Wells working on great seasons. Steven Matz has swung back into the rotation to replace Griffin Jax, and he's not doing too badly. I do worry about Freddy Peralta, because he's still struggling the way he did in New York, but hopefully things even out. Martinez and Rasmussen are still excellent though, and solving a ton of problems. 

Again, even as the Yankees threaten, I don't see the Rays giving up 1st anytime soon, even if there are minor flaws. This team's really blossomed, and come together in a way I wasn't expecting early on. I don't think they're THE favorite in the AL going into October, but they're one of the only teams acting like it this year. 

Coming Tomorrow- The Braves really corner the market on 'life begins at 30' guys, don't they?

First to Cursed

 

There is a subject I don't like mentioning on the blog, but it's inevitable here. 

Y'see, a couple months ago, the New York Knicks were going on an absolute tear in the finals, they were outdoing the Spurs on every level. The Spurs only won one game of that series, and it was at the Garden, with...um...a guest. 

Recently. The Los Angeles Dodgers made a visit to this guest's current place of residence, or one of them at least. And since visiting said place of residence, they have won 5 games, and lost ten, including two against division rivals the Arizona Diamondbacks. More proof that no sports team is safe from being ruined at the hands of a massive...er, jinx. 

And at least the Knicks eventually won the Champs, but because it's only a 7 game series, all it takes is just getting the jinx out of the room. I think some Knicks fans did some cleansing rituals, a little sage, maybe something from a nearby halal cart, anything that could possibly work. And so, the Knicks won in 5, as depicted on the walls of the Sistine Chapel. But in a long season like this, it's gonna take more than just a game to pass for the stink to completely go away. So the Dodgers are still very much mired in this losing streak, and are gonna need to really rethink policy and outreach in order to come back from it.

There's at least good news, and it's that some pieces of this team that haven't had the proper time to really excel this season are finally getting there. Mookie Betts is one of them, as he was injured for most of the year, then took a while to really make an impact. He currently has 13 home runs and 36 RBIs in 80 games, plus the usual brand of excellent play at shortstop. Teoscar Hernandez also missed some time, but has been much better in the last few weeks, hitting .279 since the ASG break, with 3 homers and 5 RBIs. Tanner Scott is now a very viable ninth inning option again, with a 2.31 ERA and 16 saves, which is a very good thing because Edwin Diaz suddenly isn't. Roki Sasaki has been piling together more and more quality starts, and has his ERA down to 4.50. 

The frustrating part is the continued setbacks, the lighter bench work, the fact that both catchers are now injured and Hunter Feduccia is suddenly the top backstop on the team, and the knowledge that the Red Sox, Cubs and D-Backs all can find the leverage to top these guys. Yes, having Tarik Skubal helps, but the ESPN smear campaign is already in full effect to hide the fact that his first start was A.) during a loss and B.) nowhere near as effective as his Tigers starts. Blake Snell will be back soon, but for how long? Will Ohtani be pitching again anytime soon? Or are they gonna be stuck with Wrobleski and Lauer making crucial postseason starts?

The cracks have finally formed. And though the Dodgers are still a lock for the playoffs and a very good team, they are no longer unstoppable, and now may need to work harder to procure that all-important threepeat. I'd suggest maybe giving the guy who had them over a cease and desist.

Coming Tomorrow- He's not even playing his best baseball anymore, but he's still a crucial performer for a 1st place team, so that's definitely something. 

Slow West

 

The 2026 AL West. The divisional equivalent of a writer that keeps crumpling and tossing perfectly good story ideas before deciding on one they've already done before.

We've had this season the threadlines of an A's team that can go the distance, then a Mariners team looking to finish the job from last year, then a Rangers team taking advantage of a golden opportunity, and currently the story of the AL West is 'everybody crashed into each other and died so the Astros are in first'. And like...you see how that's disappointing, right? The Astros have almost deliberately sabotaged their own success by failing to procure their main pieces, replacing them with disappointing, inferior homegrown versions, have a rotation full of very hurt former greats, and one of their big moves at the deadline was trading away one of the only good healthy pitchers they had. And they still get first. That is a truly unheard level of entitlement. That you just end up in first without even being good enough to justify it. Just 'oh, well if the other two aren't gonna be very good, we might as well.'

And the Mariners have been given every opportunity to be good this year, complete with great foundational moves, but just cannot win games. They were over .500 on July 20th, then went 4-12. Seranthony hasn't worked, Ward hasn't worked, and Josh Naylor, who's taken forever to get going, is NOW the only one on this team remembering to hit home runs. And now, after they're done with the Rays, they have to play the Yankees and Astros. It is not ideal, and it's not looking great.

So...I guess that leaves the Rangers? Who were dipping around the deadline, nearly traded deGrom and Eovaldi, actually traded Josh Smith, and then locked in and decided to go for it anyway. And that seems to be working out?

Here are some things that haven't been working all year that are suddenly, finally, doing well for the Rangers: Joc Pederson, who's once again a reliable hitter, leads the team with 21 homers, and has returned to his lovable presence on a would-be contender. Corey Seager's battled injuries and slumps all year, and now he's finally hitting, and has 11 home runs. Wyatt Langford has been trying to stay healthy for a while and now is letting his 13 homers speak for themselves. Nathan Eovaldi's looking to finally get his ERA under 4, and his 10 wins and 137 K's say a lot. And even Kumar Rocker's putting together a halfway decent season, with a 4 ERA and 98 Ks. We've also finally seen Cody Bradford show up in the rotation this year, and he looks really good. Somehow, the idea of a deGrom-Eovaldi-Gore-Bradford postseason rotation is looking better than a lot of competitors's renditions.

There are fundamental issues, like the fact that only 2 guys have over 50 RBIs [and it's August], and the fact that only one starter has an ERA lower than 4, but the way these guys have looked fairly recently indicates that things are finally clicking, and they're now a half-game behind the Astros for the division. Like in 2023, the Rangers could be heading for a showdown, and I am absolutely here for it.

Coming Tonight: A future Hall of Famer having an extremely okay season. 

Outlegged

 

Anyone else breathing a little easier now that the Dodgers aren't in first?

I mean yes, it's been tough matchups, they've had to play a surging Cubs team, they're beginning to cool off, and they will obviously be back because they're the Dodgers but...how about the fact that the best team in baseball right now is the self-made, lower-budget Milwaukee Brewers, the team that everybody thought was punting and would sink under the Cardinals and Reds? The Brewers are solid as hell and have enough reinforcements for days, and right now they're absolutely cruising, going 13-6 since the all-star break. 

The rotation still amazes me, because right now they're without Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff and Quinn Priester, three guys who absolutely made the 2025 team as good as it was. And it's still one of the best rotations in baseball. Jacob Misiorowski is still having a Cy Young caliber season, going 11-5 with a league-leading 1.63 ERA and a league-leading 195 strikeouts. The velocity's high and he's still untouchable, and hopefully this is a sustainable metric because, as we're seeing with Paul Skenes, it takes some wear and tear. But even behind him, you have Kyle Harrison pitching a terrific year, 9-2 with a 2.84 ERA, Logan Henderson finally staying healthy in the bigs with a 6-1 record and a 2.70 ERA in 10 starts, Shane Drohan having an excellent rookie campaign with a 6-4 record and a 3.48 ERA, Robert Gasser surprisingly doing alright for himself as a fill-in, and now Dustin May, who had a terrific first start with only 2 runs allowed. That is an onslaught. So many terrific starting options. And that is why you deal a Peralta, because you know you have Drohan coming. 

Additionally...the bullpen crew have been so damn concise this year. Abner Uribe's having another god-tier season, with a 2.14 ERA, 47 Ks and 6 saves. Combine that with Trevor Megill, still good as the primary closer, Chad Patrick, who's been excellent as a longman, Aaron Ashby who has 12 wins and a ton of great long work, and somehow D.L. Hall, Bryse Wilson and Antonio Senzatela who are all suddenly ace relievers at this point. It's a really impressive unit with a lot of very steady pieces who are all going the right direction, and directly overtop of that is a lineup of prime Jackson Chourio, prime William Contreras, prime Brice Turang, rookie Cooper Pratt and Luis Lara, and the Jake Bauers season the Rays convinced themselves would never happen. The swiss army effect with this team is real, and there's so many guys that can beat you in so many ways.

And the strange part is...they haven't even needed Jett Williams or Jesus Made, because Joey Ortiz has had a crazy second wind and Cooper Pratt has been worth it at short. He's now hitting .289 with 17 RBIs and 10 steals, and finally feels like a valid MLB option, even at 21. The fact that there is a Made waiting in the wings to make this team even better is still insane.

The Brewers have the Twins and Padres next, two decent teams that wanna be the spoiler even if they're not definite playoff teams yet. They need to stay hot and command enough of the rest of this season if they want to stand any chance against the inevitable Dodgers October offense. I so badly want the Brewers to upset the Dodgers, because they're the more fun team and are trying to do something terrific here, even with a fraction of the budget the Dodgers have. And I really hope this can be the year.

Coming Tonight: A week or so ago, his team was in first and looking to buy. Now he's just trying to keep the lights on.

While You Were Out..

 

Anthony Kay was a gem of the Mets' minor league system, was traded for Marcus Semien in 2019, debuted with fanfare only to fail to live up to expectations, bounced around the minors for 3 years, and eventually gave up and went to Japan. After regaining control and finding his confidence again, Kay re-signed with an up-and-coming White Sox team in an effort to start small [which was coincidentally also Munetaka Murakami's idea], and wound up on a competitor with a decent chance of making the postseason. Like a lot of returning former MLB guys, like Foster Griffin and Peter Lambert, Kay isn't really an over the top centerpiece guy, but he's putting in the work to be a part of this team.

So far, in 23 appearances, Kay has an 8-5 record, a 4 ERA and 90 Ks. These are far and away his best MLB numbers, because the Jays never really got Kay's best stuff in his 3 years there. Kay works because unlike a lot of this rotation, he's got a few more years under his belt, has a veteran presence, and can pitch in big games without wilting. Davis Martin, who's only 2 years younger than Kay, is beginning to struggle as we get closer to October, and Sean Burke, as good as he's been, isn't enough. The idea was that Luis Castillo would be the veteran presence, but one start in and that doesn't seem to be working. So Kay and his strong enough work will have to do. 

All the Chicago rotation really needs to do is provide a strong enough backbone, as the lineup's already got the rest covered. The only real stumbling point has been catching, but everything else is super powerful. Murakami, Meidroth, Vargas, Peters, Antonacci and the Montgomerys make up a truly incredible backbone, and have accomplished so much just by being active, young and ready for anything. Montgomery already has 25 homers, and Murakami and Vargas will get there very soon. Even Andrew Benintendi, though clearly not reaching his ceiling the Red Sox once knew was a thing, is a pretty nice power DH, with 12 homers and 57 RBIs. Basically doing what he's called for. 

Though they were just swept by the Red Sox, who...I dunno what their deal is, they might not stop winning and take it all at this point just to confuse the owners further, they have the Guardians [who just got embarrassed by the Mets] and the Reds [who just lost Hunter Greene again] this week, and look to capitalize and keep possession of first. I think they can ultimately, even if the Guardians did more at the deadline. The fundamentals really are here, and the White Sox somehow have what it takes to shock everyone and make the playoffs two years after their embarrassment of a season. 

Coming Tomorrow- Skinny, striking, stoic, throws smoke. One of many working pieces for the strongest team in the NL.

Met Out of Dodge

 

Okay, so, to recap: only two of the Mets' 2026 additions actually left the team at the deadline. Freddy Peralta and Luke Weaver, all ironically traded to smaller market teams. Which means Bo Bichette, Luis Robert, Jorge Polanco, Devin Williams and Marcus Semien are still with the team. So the Mets, in retaining those pieces, hang onto a combined....-1.9 WAR. Which means everything that either Carson Benge or A.J. Ewing has given to this team on a come-up, those combined guys have taken away. 

The Mets lineup that remains is very similar to the one that was here before, except now they're faced with the soggy decisions they made heading into the year. Semien isn't hitting, he's got a .208 average and keeps striking out. Bichette has been a disaster, only hitting .256 with 11 homers and [a team-leading] 55 RBIs, but completely without any substance, much like his father towards the end of his career. Polanco's batting .144 in 30 games, clearly injury-hampered and off his game. Robert has also been injury-stunted, and his .189 average through 37 games is pretty much par for the course from his Sox era, sad to say. The attempt to reinvigorate the lineup has pulled it down completely, and the guys who've kept the team alive are the tentpoles [Lindor and Soto] and the two new kids [Benge and Ewing]. Lindor's missed a lot of time, but he's not got 9 homers and 25 RBIs in 58 games, and is finally feeling like himself again. Soto is still hurt, but WAS pulling peak Soto numbers and saving the team. Beyond that, though? Any chance at lineup depth has rotted away. Francisco Alvarez is here, healthy and hitting, and at 24 his ceiling's still high, but will his success even be with the Mets anymore? Brett Baty had a chance for a permanent role in the infield but, despite playing in more games than most of the team, he's hitting .219 and still very much a day-to-day bit player. Ronny Mauricio has still refused to factor into the team's success, and Nick Morabito wasn't ready on a brief day-trip from Syracuse. I have even less of an idea of where this team is going than I did last year, and the idea was that adding all the stars would HELP.

I at least know the direction of the rotation. Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, Zac Thornton and eventually Jonah Tong when he manages to stay in the bigs, they will be fine. Not 2015 rotation good, but they're all pretty impressive and they fill me with more hope than the lineup. McLean is a little shaky, but he's got his ERA down to 3.29, and he has 148 strikeouts and a 1.122 WHIP. Thronton's got a 2.88 ERA in 6 starts and looks to be a keeper. Scott is still cruising along with a 3.15 ERA. The Mets also did the unthinkable and brought up the imitable Jefry Yan, a 29-year-old career minor league closer who leaps into the air on a strikeout. The Guardians fans were polarized by him, but I think a basket case like Yan is perfect for the Mets. The stakes are low, the season's over, it's Jefry Yan time. Why not?

So yeah, not really too much left for the Mets to accomplish this year, other than spoiling some NL East wannabe playoff guys. I guess they tried, but they can't buy a championship with artificial depth. Next year will hopefully be a few steps closer to a better approach.

Coming Tomorrow- Ironically a former Mets farmhand, who pitched overseas, came back and unwittingly joined a competitor.