Throw for Broke

 

The Pirates have been so bad for so long that this team, that is likely to still miss the playoffs, is championship caliber almost. At last, a Pirates team that seems to actually know what it's doing and has enough young players to build on...potentially. 

The Paul Skenes thing is a little scary, no joke. He's not pitching as well as he was last year, or even earlier in the season, and people are worried he's gonna need surgery. He was better in his last start against the Tigers, but gave up 3 runs and only struck out 5. Something is probably up, and to be perfectly honest, there being the potential for work stoppage next year might be the best thing for him. But the silver lining is that this year it's not all on Skenes, and Braxton Ashcraft, Bubba Chandler, Jared Jones and Carmen Mlodzinski have all been picking up the slack. Jones got here late but has been pretty durable, with a 4.50 ERA, 72 Ks and a 1.203 WHIP in 14 games. Not perfect but he's eating innings and doing what he should be doing. Ashcraft has been the defacto ace, and he's got 13 wins, 159 Ks and a 3.68 ERA, very impressive. Chandler has improved greatly since the first few months, and has a 4.23 ERA and 108 Ks. And Mlodzinski has a 4 ERA and 81 Ks over a season split between long relief and spot starts. He seems to have a handle on things as a starter, which certainly helps. I feel like this rotation's maybe one arm away from greatness, and it looks like Mitch Keller might not be that guy anymore. I have no idea who the next young arm up at bat is, but I suppose we'll find out next year [I hope].

The array of young people stepping up and saving this team has spread to the lineup, as now Rafael Flores has popped up as a fun outfield bat, he's got 6 homers and 12 RBIs in 19 games. He's right there with Esmerlyn Valdez who, while he has slowed down, as 14 homers and 41 RBIs. It does continue to piss me off that Jhostynxon Garcia continues to not work in the majors, as once again on a come-up he struggled to get anything done, and even Jacob Gonzalez, who looked like a steal from the White Sox, is hitting around .210 in 29 games despite being a strong fill-in for Konnor Griffin. The veteran core of this team [Reynolds, Lowe, Cruz, Gonzales, Mangum] has been very helpful, and there's enough steady power and impressive offensive flair to go around. It's also just very good to have Oneil Cruz back, as he was just getting things together when he got hurt. 

Sadly, despite all the great bullpen additions [Lake Bachar, Kirby Yates, Luke Weaver, Camilo Doval], the Pirates still are a long-shot for the postseason. They have won 5 of their last 7 and cut the Tigers down to size a little, but they're still four or so games back from the main wild card scrum, and may not have done enough to really go for it this year. Hopefully it can be built on so that they don't run into this problem again in another two years.

Coming Tonight: Nobody knows who he is, or where he came from, but he's been a nice under-the-radar success for a team that recently made waves by getting the hell out of last place.

Your Driver's Outside

 I have seen several inexplicable comebacks over the 17 years I've been writing this blog. I saw Bartolo Colon bottom out and then become a backbone of multiple rotations in his 40s. I saw Jon Singleton come up, crumble and then return to help the Astros win a ring. I saw Eric Thames come back from Korea with a power-hitting vendetta. I saw Matt Bush finally make the bigs and become a relief specialist in recovery. I saw Rich Hill emerge from minor league hell and become a Dodgers and Red Sox hero. This year alone I saw Peter Lambert return from obscurity to lead the Astros' rotation. I thought I had seen it all.

And never in my wildest dreams did I ever think Randy Dobnak would not only return to the bigs, but be a reliable piece of a team again.

The thing about Randy Dobnak in his 2019 and 2020 heyday with the Twins is that he was a novelty, and everyone knew it. 24-year-old guy with more in common physique-wise with a mechanic than a major league pitcher, never threw especially hard, moonlit as an Uber driver. This was not going to be a sustainable model for MLB success because the age of guys like this finding careers was over, even in 2019. If anything, they could be relief specialists or knuckleballers, but not starters for contending teams. Dobnak was a secret weapon of the bomba Twins team, sporting a 1.95 ERA in 9 appearances, lighting up September and propelling to the playoffs...where he would later be annihilated by both Yankee hitting and Yankee fans. 2020 was a relatively strong sophomore effort for Dobnak, he was reliable and went 6-4 in 10 starts. But after that, the material was never especially great, and even though the Twins kept him around, I'm assuming, for the benefits, the return never exactly happened. I saw him signing for people when I was at Twins camp in 2023, and that's how you know Twins fans take care of their own. Dobnak was basically a triple-A guy by that point and he still had guys lining up for an autograph. 

So...the prospect of a Randy Dobnak return was always gonna be a stretch for me. I figured he'd sung his song. He was in camp with the Mariners, looked good....yeah, good for you, but you're not breaking that rotation. If Kade Anderson can't break that rotation til August, you can't either. And then midway through July I noticed that the Royals had a new face in the WAR leaderboards, and then...it dawned on me. The Royals, without Cole Ragans or Stephen Kolek or Luinder Avila, needed rotation help, Dobnak was succeeding in Omaha, it was all they had. And Dobnak was...doing well? 

In 9 appearances for the 2026 Royals, Randy Dobnak, who is 31 and still not throwing especially hard, has a 1.58 ERA, a 2.1 WAR, and 29 strikeouts, which is a career high for him. He's also giving up a lot of walks, which has boosted his WHIP, but the dominance says enough honestly. Nobody has figured out how to hit this guy, and he's continuing to stifle genuinely good lineups with craftsmanship. Somehow, since his return last month, Dobnak has been the Royals' best pitcher.

Granted, this is happening during a lost season. Maikel Garcia's hurt again, and probably missing the rest of the season. Pasquatch, Witt, Caglianone and Isbel have all missed a substantial amount of time, and last place in the AL Central is basically theirs. This is a season that will likely result in Matt Quatraro's firing, a few months of Pujols speculation, and the crushing reality that this team still isn't all the way there. Dobnak is a temporary solution to a larger problem, the lack of roster stability and repeated injury beatdowns. The Royals fans are excited about Randy Dobnak because there's not a hell of a lot else to be excited about right now, and they know that Dobnak likely won't be a recurring thing. It'd be great if he continued this into next year like Rich Hill did, but...we all know what's the more probable outcome here.

For now, it's great that he's back, and it's great that he's winning games. Very positive MLB success story. I just wish there was more to say about the Royals this year.

Coming Tomorrow- He came up before Skenes, missed a year, and returned to honestly pick up a lot of Skenes' slack.

A Slight Adjustment

 

It's not exactly THE gutsiest of moves but it's something that's still kind of turning heads.

So C.J. Abrams is having the best season of his career in Washington, he's on the heels of what could be a 30-homer/100-RBI season, and there's a slight chance he's able to steal 6 more bases and make it 30-30 as well. Nasim Nuñez has been getting to play everyday, has a league-leading 40 steals and has been aiding the Nats as a speedy infield boost. Last week, the decision was made to switch the two defensively, meaning Nunez will play shortstop and Abrams will play 2nd. On paper this makes sense, as Abrams's defense at short wasn't great and he could use a change. But...they're also telling Abrams, in the midst of his best season to date, that he needs to move over. In the midst of a non-competitive year after it's been clear they're not a playoff team. And this is the same organization that suspended him for gambling and nearly traded him months earlier. So needless to say, Abrams isn't happy, and conveniently he's day to day with a minor injury. So, the Nats, once again potentially ruining a good thing. 

It shouldn't take away from Nunez having his best season yet, and stealing bases like it's his job. He's not really hitting all that much, as he's a .226 hitter with 34 RBIs in 117 games, but it's about getting him on base and watching him fly. I kinda wish there was more to him than that, and even James Wood and Jacob Young can steal bases while still remembering to hit. But hey, at least Nunez is good at something, and at least he's finding his niche on this team. You're also seeing the other pieces falling into place. Brady House is starting at third again and doing alright, with 9 homers and 31 RBIs in 65 games. Dylan Crews has 10 homers and 27 RBIs in 76 games. Abimelec Ortiz has burst onto the scene as a rookie corner infielder, and has 5 homers and 9 RBIs in 16 games. He could be a nice piece going forward. You're even seeing Harry Ford slowly creeping up to Keibert Ruiz, and beginning to figure out MLB hitting.

Again, frustratingly given the last few years, the rotation isn't as far along. Cade Cavalli and Andrew Alvarez have thankfully improved, with Cavalli going on a historic run and shaping up to sneak right into the 'best pitchers in the NL' conversation going forward. Jackson Kent has a lot of support behind him but two starts in and he may not be ready for the bigs. Beyond that...who knows? Openers? Trevor Williams getting to start again, which honestly isn't that bad of an idea? Jake Irvin trying his best despite being seriously cooked? The bullpen isn't much better, despite Clayton Beeter and P.J. Poulin's best efforts.

The Nats are nearly good, and nearly got something going this year, but seem to keep shooting themselves in the foot whenever it's about to get good. This Abrams thing, if he's actually mad, is the next stage of foolishness. He's already pissed off, the lockout might not help, I guess he might be traded soon, so there goes what you're trying to build I guess. I dunno, maybe this lineup without James Wood is reminding me just how bleak it might all be with the Nats.

Coming Tonight: Literally the last person I expected to make a custom of this year.

Tolle Boost

 

With a new CBA probably on the way, sometime after a settlement that will take far too long to be reached, there's always murmurs about a divisional realignment, which Rob Manfred wants to do but I don't think anybody else does. He always goes on like 'well, with the universal DH, the NL and AL are meaningless, and since all 30 teams play each other once a season, the divisional matchups mean less, so we can just put the Mets and Yankees in the same division because it's way easier that way', like...listen to yourself. You're tearing down things that work, and have worked, just to save time and money, and you're forgetting WHY they work. The Yankees and Mets being in separate divisions works because the rare times they do play each other feel special. That's also why an actual divisional matchup like Yanks-Sox can happen a ton of times per season, because it doesn't need to feel unique. Yanks-Sox is just normal stuff. Of course they're playing each other again, it's been a few weeks anyhow.

But the one argument in favor of divisional realignment is that some divisions are simply built better than others. The AL East this year, much like in other recent years, have three teams that have a better record than literally every other team in the AL. Nobody in the Central or West has a better record than the third place team in the AL East, and the last place team in the AL East has the same amount of wins has two teams fighting for a playoff spot in the AL Central. Conventional wisdom says you need to reshuffle. I don't necessarily agree, as I like that some divisions are better than others, but if you're a Red Sox fan you probably need things to change. Since the Yankees and Red Sox play each other less now, both teams can be good without one or the other suffering record-wise.

And so, while the Sox are still looking at a playoff spot, they've got this long road for something that should be more inevitable than it actually is. They've got more pieces than a lot of the great teams in other divisions, and have one of the best hitting performances in the game this season coming from Willson Contreras and his .927 OPS. But they still have to get through a wild card round that stopped them last year, despite a pretty decent team. And they've gotta do it with the possibility of there being no Masataka Yoshida, no Roman Anthony, no Trevor Story and no Garrett Crochet. 

Thankfully, Crochet's absence has not broken this team as much as you'd think, as they've survived well enough using their immediate starting options. Patrick Sandoval is the shakiest of everybody, he's got a 5 ERA in 7 starts, but he's not even that bad. Jake Bennett's improving, has a 1.066 WHIP and a 3.50 ERA. Ranger Suarez is sort of doing his usual thing, low ERA, not a lot of runs scored, same as in Philly. Sonny Gray's having a comeback season for the ages, with a league-leading 15 wins, a 2.65 ERA and 117 Ks. And then you've got Payton Tolle, a 23-year-old schtarker with the arsenal to fool everybody, who currently has a 3 ERA, 134 Ks and a 1.083 WHIP. He's not the fanciest pitcher here, but he works hard, gets people out and keeps things clean. I think the lack of a Crochet type will be obvious if he's out for the postseason run, but someone like Tolle will definitely help. Which is weird, because of him and Connelly Early I assumed Early would be the guy going forward, but evidently the Sox figured they didn't need him. Anyway, Curtis Mead's still injured. 

On that note, kinda weird that Jahmai Jones is more productive than any of the Sox's postseason pickups, including Adley Rutschman. 

The Sox have a surprisingly nice core, have used Andruw Monasterio, Anthony Seigler and Mickey Gasper in huge roles despite being replacement level, have gotten terrific seasons out of Contreras, Durbin, Rafaela and Abreu, and are keeping the momentum going for the most part despite a very precarious path to postseason glory. I think they could figure it out more than last year's team, but if they get the Yanks again it'll be another war of attrition, and I'm not wild about that.

Coming Tomorrow- Meanwhile, on the team they traded Early to, the league's base-stealing king gets a new everyday gig.

Willy or Won't He?

 

There's been a lot of talk about the Kyle Tucker contract this week, especially considering how poorly he's been playing at this specific moment. There's gonna be smoke about this next year to rationalize CEOs not forking over the money to pay players. Which is not what people are saying, we don't need to incentivize paying players Kyle Tucker sized contracts, we need to incentivize...PAYING players. Teams should spend money on keeping great players around, and it doesn't need to be Tucker money or Dylan Cease money. Players need enough to sustain themselves but not too much to fail to sustain themselves. 

Willy Adames is an underrated entry into this conversation. Last year, after a peak season, the Giants signed him to a 7-year, 182 million dollar deal. It made sense at the time. Adames has never been a superstar, but he's a contact king with great power perks and great defense, he's the full package and can get things done in the postseason. He gets to San Francisco last season, and does...fine. .225 average, .740 OPS, 30 homers, 87 RBIs, still productive numbers. This season was another step backwards. In 116 games, he's hitting .224 with a .697 OPS, 19 homers and 48 RBIs. Yes, his next home run will be #200 career-wise, and that is nice, but he's faded into the background on a team where he could have starred. He made things work in Milwaukee, and was an underrated aspect of those competitive Brewers teams. But here, on a team with Matt Chapman, Rafael Devers, Logan Webb and Jung Hoo Lee, he sort of does his thing without being especially noteworthy.

At the very least, even if Rafael Devers will have a slow stretch in SF, he'll respond with a killer month. In May he hit .306, then in the following two months he hit 15 homers. That he's only hit 3 all August, plus a .235 average this month, just proves how spotty he's become, even if the perks are still worth it. Bryce Eldridge is in the same category, as after a .300 June, he fell back down to earth and has hit .200 since the start of the second half. It's a very inconsistent, spotty team that, despite having very talented people on board, cannot seem to put together a solid enough six month run to garner anyone's attention.

Amusingly, the Giants have gotten to the point where they're now trying guys out places, just to see what'll work. Oselvis Basabe has been surprisingly good as a 2nd base fill-in, Jonah Cox might be an answer in center, Drew Cavanaugh might be a catching option going forward [if Susac's gonna keep getting hurt]. And hey, this Dylan Smith guy might be a 9th inning success if given a larger opportunity. It's good that they're figuring those out, because so much of this team needed to be crumpled and tossed for simply not staying on the gameplay as often as the higher three NL West teams. Will 2027 be better? Probably not, maybe a little. The pieces are sort of there, they just need to do what they're supposed to.

Coming Tonight: A big craftsman with a mustache who's the most 34-looking 24 I've ever seen. 

Might as Well...

 

I didn't think it could get any worse for the A's, but somehow it has. So they already had Brent Rooker out for the season, right? Then they lose Nick Kurtz, but they get him back, right? No. His thumb keeps acting up, he's gotta be shut down for even longer. Now we're at the point where, in addition to Rooker and Kurtz, Shea Langeliers is out [probably for the season], Tyler Soderstrom is out, Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs are out, and Joshua Kuroda-Grauer is out due to, well...having a ball overturned. The IL has a combined 10 WAR. 

The A's team WAR is a 15.6, by the way. Meaning 10 out of 15.6 of the runs the A's have scored better than everyone else...was scored by someone who is currently injured. That also means that the rest of the team is worth 5.6 WAR. Keep in mind, there's a guy on one of the other teams in the AL West who has a 5.5 WAR, just by himself. Which means putting, like, Max Muncy, Alika Williams, Jeff McNeil, Lawrence Butler, Gage Jump and the rest of the funtime gang together can get you one Yordan Alvarez. And keep in mind, Yordan Alvarez alone isn't getting it done for the Astros, it's gotta be a team effort.

So yeah. Not much left for the A's to do but close up. And keep in mind, the Angels at least have some guys still healthy. They have Reid Detmers striking everybody out, they have Mike Trout delivering a comeback season, they have Walbert Urena as a rookie, that's worth more than most of this team right now, and that's not even counting Zach Neto or Oswald Peraza. The A's are in danger of eclipsing the Angels for the worst record in baseball. And keep in mind, this isn't a year where someone's gonna chase the all-time-worst record, this is just a regular, vanilla flavored bad team. And it's probably gonna be the A's if they keep losing games like this, 3 years after being in the basement already and calling up the guys that would hopefully keep them out of there.

Gage Jump was brought up to stop the bleeding, he did for a while. He had some really tough starts in late July/early August, gave up 6 runs in a few starts, and now is looking a lot worse for wear. He's building it back, did really well against Boston, had a decent start against the Rangers, and seeing as J.T. Ginn is a little shakier since the injury, he's taking on a lot more responsibility. At 23, he's...sort of up to the task? He's got a 4.50 ERA, 85 Ks. It's a season you could build something on, given a better team and less direct hits to the lineup. Right now, the A's rotation consists of J.T. Ginn, Gage Jump and Jacob Lopez, plus two openers and the hope that the lockout somehow starts early. 

All the A's have to work with right now is a very good Zach Gelof performance, a surprisingly agile Alika Williams performance, the sudden emergence of Lawrence Butler's power numbers, and Jonah Heim killing the Red Sox. That's....not a hell of a lot, but it's at least somewhat entertaining. 

Coming Tomorrow- The year before he signed his nice-sized contracts, he hit 32 homers, 112 RBIs and got MVP votes. Now he's struggling to get his OPS above .700. 

Made Red-undant

 

Hunter Greene going down for another Tommy John surgery wasn't the official death nell for the Reds, the season had been going downhill long before that, but it was the confirmation that whatever nearly happened last year wasn't even remotely a possibility this year. Chase Burns is nice and all, but Hunter Greene is what helped this team to a wild card spot last year, and without him, considering the state of this lineup, there's no point.

Like, okay, let's see the issue here. Ke'Bryan Hayes, still not hitting. Dane Myers, barely hitting, here for his defense. Noelvi Marte, still not hitting, it feels like it's a scam of some sort. Matt McLain, not hitting, occasionally threatens to. T.J. Friedl, not hitting, embarrassingly so. Jose Trevino, not hitting. Eugenio Suarez, thankfully hitting more than he was and currently on a homer tear but compared to last year, not hitting. J.J. Bleday, was hitting, isn't really hitting anymore. Even if you have Elly de la Cruz, Sal Stewart and Tyler Stephenson, you still can't get the majority of the lineup to do anything. And even still, Stewart is leading the league in RBI but because of his occasional slumping this season, he's not the Rookie of the Year. J.J. Wetherholt kinda is, and though Stewart's gonna make it very close, and may even have the better career, Stewart's been human a few too many times this year, 26 homers aside. Even Elly's only hitting .264 and does the thing where his average goes off a cliff for a month again.

The rotation...without Greene...beyond Chase Burns...yeah, I dunno what happened. Andrew Abbott finally had a down season, which is still somewhat productive for him. He's got a 4 ERA, a 1.421 WHIP and struggled during the first half. Brady Singer struggled throughout, had a few decent starts but seems to be back to getting killed, and is 5-11. Rhett Lowder's fully healthy and not panning out anywhere near how he was supposed to. Nick Lodolo, in the midst of yet another injury-plagued year, has a 5 ERA and a 1.455 WHIP. I know this was gonna be the core, but now's the point where this team should start giving up. Lodolo isn't the guy anymore, Lowder, if 2027 isn't anything, might not either. Williamson's a bust at this point, when Greene gets back he'll be 28 and trying not to do this exact thing, and Singer's just an innings eater at this point. Chase Burns deserves to be built around a bunch of winners, and it's not this lot.  Maybe there'll be some call-ups in the next couple years that do what the Reds' arms were supposed to in the mid-2020s, and get less hurt.

It sucks that it's turned out like this, because the Reds really were building something, but so many pieces actively refused to do what they were supposed to, and as such we're here in last again while the others fight for playoff spots. It's gotta be disheartening, as they might be further from true competition than they arguably should have been by now.

Coming Tomorrow- A rookie pitcher for the A's just essentially keeping the lights on at this point.

Caught in the Maize

 

The Minnesota Twins arrived in Iowa for the Field of Dreams game on Thursday night with enthusiasm and vigor, and the desire to play a great ballgame in a hallowed place, for the good of the game. That was the last bit of positivity the Twinsd experienced. They lost three games to the Phillies, a better team but one the Twins could have very easily spoiled, and now they're in fourth place, trailing the Tigers and Guardians and struggling to keep in the race. It certainly looks like the Phillies found themselves in Iowa, and the Twins lost the plot.

The big 'what are we even doing?' moment came during yesterday's game, which was going great for the Twins for a while due to the Phils starting Andrew Painter [due to lack of other options, and thanks again for that Dombrowski]. Brooks Lee hit a grandy, Kody Clemens [the former Phillie] hit a solo shot, it was 5-0 for five innings. Then in the sixth, Luis Arraez got a guy home and Alec Bohm, hot as hell recently, rocketed one out to make it 5-4. Which it remained. And it honestly could have stayed. 

In the eighth, Bohm was up again, with three men on, and hit one to shallow right. Royce Lewis and Luke Keaschall congregated towards the ball, as it seemed to skirt the line between foul and fair. Lewis lets it bounce, it lands fair. He tries to grab the ball, it flies right out of his hands, and Keaschall doesn't have the reflexes to stop it from rolling off, so it bonks off his glove, as balls tend to be doing these days. Harper's able to get home on that, tying the game. Three batters later, Bryan de la Cruz smokes a ball through and 2 more runs score, and the Phils' bullpen ensure it doesn't get worse than that.

So...let's examine this. We have Royce Lewis and Luke Keaschall collaborating on that play to shallow right. Keaschall is predominantly a second baseman, he's in right because they wanted to start Kody Clemens at second, they already had him in left and Ryan Kreidler at second. Royce Lewis is predominantly used as a third baseman, but Brooks Lee was at third. So you have two guys not playing their primary positions acting like the Keystone Kops out there and bombing the game. I'd understand it if the production was worth it to keep all these guys in the lineup, but Keaschall did nothing at the plate and Lewis got one hit. 

Lewis in general is having a pretty meh season honestly. The novelty of the longballs is done because Lewis stays healthy for longer and hits less homers. He's got 13 homers, 44 RBIs, 11 steals, he's fine. Better in the last month or so than he was before that, but he's not blowing the doors off the place, making him a somewhat limp 1st overall guy. He's still doing what he can, and when the production's on point it's not a problem, but some of his dimensions have been taken away and there's not much to him that other guys can't already bring. The good news is Kaelen Culpepper is up and auditioning for SS for 2027 [?], Keaschall seems to be a lock for the team going forward, Byron Buxton's still elite and the central core is likely sticking around for the most part to build on this going forward. There's the worry that Joe Ryan could leave in free agency, and the knowledge that Ryan Jeffers will, but unless they really start dealing people, which could happen to guys like Wallner and Larnach if they're not careful, I don't see them going full crumple and toss next year if enough of this team can really chase people.

Anyhow, shame about what happened to the Twins this weekend. It could have been avoided. Someday it might get to be avoided.

Coming Tonight: Similar to Lewis, he gets injured, misses a swath of the season and tries to make up for it. This year worked out similarly to the last few for him. 

It's Not Nepotism if it Wins Games

 

The 'second generation player' thing has been a nice development in recent years, but the rarer version of this is seeing a second generation MLBer playing for the same team their father did. Mike Yastrzemski making the bigs was great, but if he was in Sox colors that would have melted brains. We don't always get huge ones, we got Moises Alou as a Giant, briefly, and we now have Ryan Weathers on the Yanks. Both Griffeys playing for the Mariners is really the biggest version of this.

Well...I think we can add the Conines to this category, because Griffin Conine is essentially doing the same thing his father Jeff did for the Marlins, which is clutch hitting and contact hitting the team into the larger conversation.

Griffin Conine, for a while, seemed like one of those 'aw, if only' sorts of stories, because every time he'd get going, he'd get hurt. Last year he was off to a huge start, got hurt and missed the majority of the season. This year it happened again in April. One of the great things about Jeff Conine was that he was always around, always available, and Griffin has been the opposite. But in the past month or so he's been healthy, and so he's gone from a bench bat to the starter in right basically, and he's given this team a heck of a boost. In this period, he's hitting .273 with 11 home runs and 24 RBIs, plus a .916 OPS. He's clobbering the ball at a very similar rate to his dad, and doing it for the team that his dad helped win big. So that's gotta be really cool. Remember, he was chilling in the Blue Jays system for a while until being traded for Jonathan Villar, so it wasn't even a serendipity thing. All of this has fallen into place, and it's happening in a way where Conine can really help this team.

The Marlins, as it stands right now, are right outside the center circle of the wild card conversation, but they're only 3.5 games back and they're above .500. The return of Sandy Alcantara's better numbers, FINALLY, has fueled the recent surge, in addition to the return of Pete Fairbanks' ninth inning dominance, the return of Esteury Ruiz's uncontrollable contact energy and steals, and the return of Owen Caissie's power ability after like 3 months of lying dormant. Otto Lopez continues to be one of the best pure contact hitters in the game, Xavier Edwards continues to be just as effective, and Heriberto Hernandez now leads the team in home runs with 17. Losing Liam Hicks did not wound this team enough because Joe Mack is a perfectly viable catching option and Agustin Ramirez can now hop in at DH. So much has been freed up somehow, and the Marlins seem to keep getting stronger even as improbable as a playoff berth might seem.

The Marlins have to play the Phillies this week, which seems difficult, but the Phillies are desperate and this is the exact kind of series they could mess up. The Marlins could shock the world by competing this year, and it's something that'd be really cool, if slightly impractical.

Coming Tomorrow- Like Conine, a guy that typically gets injured right when he starts hitting. This one's a little more well-known for his longball. 

Where Last Doesn't Mean Bad

 

So here's something fun. Next week I'm gonna be heading to Baltimore for an O's game. We've got family friends that get tickets there, it's been an on and off tradition all my life, perfectly doable because I love Camden Yards. Very cozy. Last time I was busy grabbing Natty Bo's and didn't really pay too much attention to the game, but maybe this time I will. It's looking like we'll be seeing Shane Baz and Nick Martinez pitch, two very nice starters, and it'll be Pete Alonso bobblehead night. So it'll be a really nice time. 

The team itself...obviously they haven't lived up to expectations, but there's still some undeniable spark in them. As evidence, I give you those last two games in Tampa. The Rays are the monolith right now, but the O's are keeping them on their toes.

Brandon Young might be the key to all of this, because last year, on a come-up, he was absolutely awful. Every start he got lit up, gave up 3 or 4 runs and kept losing. He was 0-6 after 10 starts. That 11th start was the kicker, because that's when I think we all realized something really cool might be in there. Young went 8 innings before allowing a hit against the Astros, and looked more dominant than he ever had, getting his first career win. The overextension led to a rough next start and an early end to the season. 

This year, he was essentially given a rotation spot out of camp thanks to Dean Kremer's difficulties. He's fared a lot better for himself, going 9-3 with a 3.33 ERA and 93 Ks in 20 starts. It's not always pretty, but he's way more composed than he was last year, and he feels like a reliable, strong option again, which is very helpful. This rotation also has Kyle Bradish, with another strong ace performance, Trevor Rogers, with some excellent starts in between getting annihilated, Shane Baz, who's pitching better than his numbers might imply, and Chris Bassitt, who just got off the IL and seems to be back to his usual formula of eating innings and keeping runs from scoring. This rotation doesn't have an OMG guy like Corbin Burnes, or a star rookie in the making or anything, but it's a pretty close knit group of guys who just get it done without a ton of ulcers. That's a nice formula. When the bullpen can be that again, we'll talk, but Kittredge and Suarez aren't their usual selves this year, which is a shame.

The good news is that a lot of this lineup, even with the many vacancies, is waking up and taking charge. Jackson Holliday's got 6 homers and 22 RBIs in 70 games, and is quickly making up for lost time. Gunnar Henderson is hot again, with 20 homers and 51 RBIs. Christian Encarnacion-Strand is quickly becoming a fan favorite, he's hitting .258 with 5 homers and 15 RBIs. Tyler O'Neill's picking up steam, with 10 homers and 22 RBIs. And then you have Alonso, who's doing Pete Alonso things, he's got 27 homers and 77 RBIs, on track to hit 300 before the end of the season. Alonso really is a generational power hitter, and it's gotten to the point where the Orioles are leading him off because he's a definite on base guy these days.

I sincerely hope I catch this team on a good night next week. The lack of current catching stability scares me, as does some general uneven roster feels, but this is still a very cool team, and even if they're working from last at the moment, that doesn't mean they're completely out of moves. There's still a surprising amount the Orioles can do, even if they're likely not a playoff team this year. After all, they have a better record than the Mariners, so that's gotta say something..

Coming Tonight: His dad was an RBI machine for the Marlins. And as the prophecy foretold, so is he.

It Doesn't Have to be Pretty

 

The Padres are on an ungodly streak right now chasing the Dodgers. I know I've said this before recently. The Padres always find a way to get good, conveniently around the time the Dodgers start losing games, and then they play each other and nothing happens and the Dodgers still win the division. And that is conveniently how things went the last time the Padres played the Dodgers. Pure momentum killer, Dodgers took 3 games, business as usual. Well...right now the Padres are 8 games behind the Dodgers, which in this run it like being 2 games behind them. The Dodgers have Ohtani cold, a bunch of people hurt, Skubal middling and have lost some key series. The Padres are 18-9 since the all-star break, have their stars finally hitting, and despite so many messy details, are winning games and looking dominant.

To be honest, this is the perfect team for Mason Miller, because the games are gonna be close due to the flickering run support and the eaten-away rotation. They brought in Robbie Ray and Casey Mize to aid the rotation, both have given up far too many runs, especially Mize. Michael King is the only Padres starter with a WAR over 1. Meaning Walker Buehler and Randy Vazquez, despite flirting with dominance, have not been able to keep this team stable. Adrian Morejon has more wins than anyone in the rotation because he seems to be on the mound when the lead changes more than any of the starters, because typically the starters are the reason for the negative lead changes. Morejon, Bradgley Rodriguez, Yuki Matsui, and of course Mason Miller, have provided an excellent cushion even if the rotation has sputtered.

And though Fernando Tatis, Jackson Merrill and Manny Machado all had awful starts, they've more than made up for it. It took Tatis 2 months to hit a homer, and now he's got 13 with 56 RBIs and 28 steals, plus a .280 average. A 30/30 year still seems like a long shot, but it's still a decent year for Tatis. Machado is still clearly past his peak, but he's got 23 homers and 70 RBIs, which is certainly a productive power year. And Merrill went from a nothing year to one of the most important ones in San Diego, as his 19 homers and 63 RBIs have been a boost in the last few months. He's still only 23, but the more he sticks around, the closer he's getting to those peak numbers everyone's been so excited about. 

All that and some surprisingly potent bench numbers from two guys named Luis have been fueling the Padres to a clear 2nd place and a definite spot in the postseason conversation. The D-Backs want it just as bad as they do, and have a much better rotation, but they also just lost Ketel Marte. It may be a true foot race between the two teams with only 1 wild card spot to spare, and it's gonna be very close. 

Coming Tomorrow- Last year, on a come up, he was wild with occasional flashes of greatness. This year he's been pretty great all-around.

Kirb Your Enthusiasm

 

The end of the regular season, when I do the 'end of year losing team superlatives', I always have one that's 'most depressing team to talk about every two weeks', and it's usually a really rough last place team or a boring team where I'm saying the same things every time. I would not have predicted at the beginning of this season that the Mariners would be a heavy contender for that superlative this year. But I saw that I needed to write a post about them and I just got this feeling of annoyance, like I'd be trying harder than usual. And like...it's the Mariners! They're supposed to be fun! They're a team I like. THEY WERE JUST IN AN ALCS. And yet...this team is depressing the shit out of me, because if they got their act together they'd be a first place team and it's just not happening. It's like they're refusing to go for it. They have everything in their corner, everything in place, every reinforcement, and they just cannot be arsed. It is infuriating. The Mariners are the Chuck Schumer 'sternly worded letter' of baseball. In lieu of any positive effort with everything on their side, they're just giving up. This is not the AL year to give up. This year you're lucky if you're 3 games above .500. So many teams are just okay that it's maddening that the Mariners can't just make the leap.

It leads me to believe that the 2025 Mariners were as good as they were because of Cal Raleigh. He had the season of the gods last year and tied the entire team together. He struggled early, was hurt, and is still not back at 100%, and he's hitting .159 with 12 homers and 43 RBIs, a genuinely pathetic year from a guy who was on top of the world a year ago. The loss of that presence in this lineup has brought things down several decibels. Josh Naylor is only now getting going, he's finally getting his average above .260 and has 10 homers and 43 RBIs. Brendan Donovan's finally healthy again and trying to salvage a mostly lost season. Arozarena, Young and Rodriguez are having good years but not over the top amazing. Colt Emerson did not work in the majors, so they're going with the next man up, Brock Rodden, hoping he somehow does better than...top prospect Cole Emerson. Even Taylor Ward, who was traded for an outfield advantage, hasn't done a damned thing in Mariners colors yet.

And, like in 2024, it's wasting a wonderful year from the rotation. Gilbert, Miller, Kirby, Emerson and Woo are all having very nice, consistent years and the worry is that when the rest of the team is good next year, they'll all be in varying stages of health because they wasted their A-material on this season. George Kirby has a 3.68 ERA, an 8-9 record, and too many great starts for a year as squandered as this one. Logan Gilbert had another ace-level year, with 152 Ks, a 3.28 ERA and a 3.2 WAR, but he'll be 30 next year, and soon the clock will start ticking. These are some great pitchers, but are their peak years being wasted? And what happens when it's time for Kade Anderson to come up? Who gets sacrificed? 

It's just depressing. This could have been a great team. Arguably it still could be, they could catch fire, the Rangers and Astros are not playoff teams yet, but...as it stands now, the Mariners feel uninspired and limp. They can use this to jumpstart a revolution or they can just give up now. I know which one I'd prefer.

Coming Tomorrow- He had a dismal first half, then last month he started hitting longballs on the regular and now he's giving his team something of a chance.

Kyle Do Anything

 

Alright, we've learned a lot about the Cardinals this week, we've learned they're better than the Phillies but not as good as the Cubs. This is very useful and solves nothing.

The Cardinals are teetering on the brink of a playoff push, and haven't committed but also haven't NOT committed either. They only gave up a few pieces at the deadline, just Lars Nootbaar, Dustin May and Jojo Romero, nobody too crucial, nobody driving the bus. I'd say it was to make room for some guys stuck in the minors but Quinn Mathews and Ryan Fernandez are still held up anyhow. The Cubs loss today went so badly that the Cards are immediately bringing up Joshua Baez, and are hoping he leads the leads the team forward...much like Blaze Jordan and Brycen Mautz and Quinn Mathews....uh, haven't done. 

It's very confusing, because the Cardinals have a lot in place that brought them back to relevance. J.J. Wetherholt is probably winning Rookie of the Year this year, he's terrific defensively and has also managed to hit pretty well, with 16 homers and 45 RBIs. Masyn Winn is still a terrific MLB shortstop, even if offensively he's been down a bit. Alec Burleson's having a terrific year, leading the league in doubles with 30 and very near a 100 RBI season. But beyond that, well...I'm not sure. Ivan Herrera's a nice power bat but he's got limitations, for sure. Jordan Walker WAS having a breakout year but he stopped hitting homers right after winning the Derby, and his strikeouts have really been piling up. Kyle Schwarber was able to snap out of the post-derby hangover, but Walker hasn't yet. Nolan Gorman and Victor Scott are chilling back in Memphis wondering where it all went wrong. After years of Yadier Molina followed by Willson Contreras, they now have Pedro Pages as the everyday, and he's *fine*. 

The rotation, while still very anonymous, is better, because all the people nobody's heard of are at least displaying consistent stats. Kyle Leahy, since June 23rd, has only allowed 7 earned runs and has 4 wins. His season didn't START the greatest, but he's putting something together here as he becomes more and more accustomed to going long. He, Pallante and McGreevy make up an unassuming but strong core, with 3.5 ERAs all around and all starts made. Pallante's having the best technical season of the three, with 12 wins, but all three are great. Even Hunter Dobbins is beginning to come into his own again, he's got his ERA below 3.50 and has been dominant, if unsupported, in his last two starts. 

I personally do not think the Cardinals are a playoff team right now, I think they're more okay than anything. But a lot of their competitors for a wild card spot [Pirates, Marlins, Phils], when given the option to be okay or shit the bed...shit the bed. So all the Cardinals need to do is keep a steady pace and not fall apart, which they're good at. Or just hope nobody they're deadlocked with suddenly takes off.

Coming Tomorrow- A very good pitcher having a very nice year whose team continues to ignore every inclination to seize the moment. 

Max'd Out

 

Two years ago, the Tigers punted at the deadline, giving away Carson Kelly and Jack Flaherty, two very impressive rental pieces. And then a funny thing happened: they caught fire, made the playoffs and chased some great teams, eventually becoming a 1st place contender last year. This year, for the majority of the season the Tigers were a 4th place mainstay with a snakebitten rotation and no real direction, so at the deadline, they punted once again, trading their #1 piece, Tarik Skubal, to the Dodgers, as well as dealing Casey Mize and Jake Rogers. It was an admission that the early-2020s rebuild had failed, and that focusing on the new class of characters [like Kevin McGonigle, Hao-Yu Lee and Troy Melton], would tide them over until their next opportunity.

Then, once again...something very funny happened. They took off.

Since July 28th, around when they dealt Skubal, the Tigers are 10-4. A hair under .500, nearly lapping the Twins for 2nd place...and looking absolutely revitalized, even without Skubal.

The key might have been calling up Max Clark, an organizational darling thought to be the future of the Tigers. Since McGonigle worked so well [a 5.6 WAR as a rookie so far], Clark was a no-brainer, and fit right into center due to Matt Vierling's injury. Since this, they've also lost Riley Greene, meaning the outfield right now is Clark, Ben Malgeri and Zach McKinstry, which is NOT IDEAL. Clark's numbers have softened the blow though, as he's hitting .289 with 1 homer and 7 RBIs, plus some terrific stuff in center. He's a natural with a high ceiling, and his contact game is already pretty nice. If him and McGonigle stick around, the Tigers will be just fine, especially considering that Dillon Dingler also seems to be in it for the long haul, with 26 homers and 80 RBIs. The lack of a pure star like Greene is worrying, but McGonigle, Gleyber Torres, and the suddenly awakening bat of Spencer Torkelson are doing everything they can.

Obviously the area of concern is gonna be the rotation without Mize or Skubal, but Jackson Jobe just got activated and his first start went really well. Beyond that, Troy Melton's still looking like a star with a 7-1 record and a 1.46 ERA, Keider Montero's got a 3.38 ERA and a 1.104 WHIP, and Framber Valdez, though clearly not Astros dominant, has been piling together some decent starts lately, and has a 4.26 ERA with 106 Ks. Hopefully Flaherty returns soon and the worst of this is over. I'm also very hopeful that Verlander can come back at some point, even if he doesn't see October. At the very least, Kenley Jansen hitting 500 saves is a storyline that could tide people over for the rest of the season if JV doesn't come back.

Clearly there's flaws, and clearly some big pieces are now missing, but the spark is there in Detroit, and the Tigers now want it more than they ever did, arguably, with Skubal. I'd love to see them shock the world and wind up in the playoffs, even if the White Sox winning would be equally as exciting.

Coming Tonight: A Cardinals reliever-turned-starter keeping the ship steady as the team heads for uncertain waters.

If You Don't Build it...

 

As I write this, the Philadelphia Phillies are playing a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in a cornfield in Iowa. You can watch it on Netflix I think, if they somehow manage to figure out how a national telecast works. Many Phillies fans are convinced this will be the last time in 2026, or possibly this decade, that the Phillies will make must-see television. I am not that cynical yet...but I'm getting close.

Let's be honest. The Phillies have looked rough. They needed an outfield bat and a fourth starter, and they got Luis Arraez, who is neither. And Arraez has been alright, but the problems still persist. The idea that Dombrowski had was using Bryan de la Cruz, Derek Hill and a returning Andrew Painter as a more cost-efficient, practical version of getting, say, Luis Robert, Mike Trout and Michael Wacha. Except you try telling that to a Philly fan. Every Christmas they want a Porsche, and don't understand how impractical, and impossible, it would be to get a new car every year. I'm not saying the Phils are asking too much, as they haven't won a ring since 2008, but we already knew this Phils team would be a step down from the last few years's, the midyear boom was a very nice surprise, and now that things are leveled, the fans are acting very entitled. Like 'HOW DARE WE NOT COMPETE'. My dude...in April you were expecting a fifth place finish. Now you're upset that the Braves are still better because they actually made the moves to keep the team young and keep the momentum. It really is impossible to please some Phils fans, and I say that as one of them.

But lately, things will be looking good, or Luzardo or Wheels will have a great start, and then Orion Kerkering will blow a save or Trea Turner will strike out with the bases loaded, and all of the sudden the team was never good to begin with. Have some nuance! The team is inherently good, this is just not their month. Anyone who thinks a bad August means the season's over has forgotten that the other rivals for a wild card spot include the Marlins, Cardinals, Pirates and Padres, all of whom we are better than [Padres is a stretch but the Phils' offense is better]. Panicking just makes Philly fans warm, I get it, they had 25 years of panicking in between championships. Minnesota fans have gone 30 years and they're not burning their city down.

At the end of the day, the Phillies still have a lot on their side. They do still have Luis Arraez, who, despite slumping a bit this week, is still Luis Arraez. They still have an incredible 1-2-3 punch of a rotation that will no doubt be a threat in a postseason situation. They still have Jhoan Duran, one of the best closers in baseball, who has a 1.74 ERA, 59 Ks, somehow even less runs allowed than last year, and 25 saves. And they still have Kyle Schwarber, who just hit his 36th home run and is hungry for more. This is not a perfect Phillies team, but neither was the 2022 iteration and they made a World Series. We're not a first round bye team, but we can grind up some momentum on the road to a championship series, and we might just need to do that again.

The Phillies season is not over yet. They're not on borrowed time. And this isn't the end. No use thinking like a spoilsport about it. That's not how you get through a month like this.

Coming Tomorrow- He was thought of as a last ditch effort to save a lost season. And now he's a key centerfield piece for a team that's charging towards first.

Sniped From Below

 

Since July 9th, the Arizona Diamondbacks are 19-11, and have reclaimed 2nd place. They're now 9 games back from the Dodgers, which still isn't ideal but it's a lot closer than it was. And they're currently riding another incredible run from Corbin Carroll, who just hit the 100th home run of his career. Slowly, and carefully, the D-Backs are making things happen this year.

The winning formula is flanked by the usual core of dominators [Carroll, Ketel Marte, Gabriel Moreno, Geraldo Perdomo], plus the addition of Nolan Arenado, who still has some tricks up his sleeve [and 18 homers too], and Ryan Waldschmidt, who's now hitting .285 as a deep lineup guy. Perdomo last year shocked the nation with a league-leading 7.1 WAR season, thanks to a surprise 100-RBI showing, 20 homers, 27 steals, 173 hits, an .851 OPS and a .290 average. This placed him 4th in the MVP voting. Many people wrote Perdomo off as a defense-heavy utility piece, but when everything lines up he can be a scarily accurate mid-lineup bat with some awesome perks. 2026 isn't quite as huge as 2025 for the shortstop, but he's still got 9 homers, 42 RBIs, 17 steals and a 3.7 WAR thanks to continued dominance at short. He's one of those pieces you need to make the rest of the team better, someone who can do it all without being flashy. Corbin Carroll is the multifaceted type that's more front-facing and gets the job done, while Perdomo is the more under the radar provider. Both work, along with Tyler Locklear's long-awaited audition for a starting 1st base job, Lars Nootbaar adjusting to his new surroundings, and James McCann still hitting .290 and playing catcher at 36.

The rotation is also evolving forward, as something that once looked so cursed now looks better than it has in a while. Eddie Rodriguez is a rock up top, we knew that, he's 11-4 with a 4.3 ERA, he's great. Now everybody else has caught up. Michael Soroka is healthy again, still has a 3 ERA and is 8-3. Brandon Pfaadt has reclaimed his mojo, and has a 3.36 ERA and 6 wins in 21 games. Mitch Bratt has finally adjusted to MLB play, and has a 3.74 ERA with 25 Ks in 7 starts. Zack Littell's talents are being used in long relief, and that's going a lot better for him. Merrill Kelly's getting his ERA back down and attempting to save his season. Eventually Corbin Burnes is going to return for the October push and nobody's gonna be prepared for how good the D-Backs will look at that point. The team WAS lacking in a solid ninth inning choice, but Brandyn Garcia seems to have taken that mantle, he's their go-to closer now, has 3 saves and a 2.18 ERA with 36 Ks. Very healthy sort of relief piece to have around.

Look, I'm not entirely sure how the D-Backs fit into the larger wild card picture, I see the Phillies falling, the Cardinals rising, and the D-Backs should just keep pedaling how they've been pedaling before. They've fallen just short of competition the past few years, and now they've got a winning formula, they just need to hang on, as the Phillies, Padres and even the Marlins, Nats and Pirates all won't go down without a fight. 

Coming Tonight: One of the best closers in baseball. Shame about the rest of the team, though.

Once Again Rewarding Ineptitude

 

Only in America can something suck for three and a half months and still win.

Let's compare the Astros' sudden rise to other teams I don't like rising midyear and taking off. The 2015/2016 Blue Jays teams had June swells and used smart July dealing to get even better and run to the ALCS. The 2010s Cardinals teams were also sneaky, efficiently run and always on the outskirts, waiting for that great three week stress to propel them to a division win. Last year's Blue Jays team, like the 2015 one, rode a June swell but used the 'uncommon man' theory and threw a ragtag, unpolished group of sheer competitors in the ring with the LA Dodgers. 

If the Astros are able to do anything at all this season despite having an absolute lemon of a roster, a completely snakebitten rotation that they themselves traded key pieces of away, and a frustrating lack of infrastructure, it'll be because the deal they made with devil upon joining the AL really is binding.

Like, once again, this is a first place team? Who, besides Yordan Alvarez or Jeremy Pena, is doing anything? What's going on here? Peter Lambert is the team's best pitcher, he has a 3 ERA, an 8-6 record and 111 strikeouts, it is perfectly fine but this team used to have Framber Valdez, Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole lead the rotation and now it's Peter Lambert and a still-rehabbing Hunter Brown and GOOD LUCK! Brown is doing fine, he's got a 3.68 ERA, and 67 Ks, but the dreams of a successful follow-up to 2025's breakout year have dissipated. This is fine, it's getting the job done, but it's been very human. Behind that you have Ronel Blanco and Cristian Javier continuously getting chased and Hayden Wesneski doing alright enough for himself but still having a few question marks above him. I remember back when putting Cristian Javier and Ronel Blanco out there meant you'd get consistency and stability, not a 7 ERA. You cannot get first place in the AL West with these chuckleheads still trying to pass off down years. 

Then you have an outfield consisting of Cam Smith, who's got 16 homers and 44 RBIs despite a .226 average, Taylor Trammell, who's usually a bench bat at this rate but is now starting and hitting .233 with 7 homers and 20 RBIs, and Daulton Varsho, who hasn't done a great deal in Houston yet. All of Jake Meyers, Joey Loperfido, Zach Dezenzo, Zach Cole, Lucas Spence and Brice Matthews are all chilling in the minors while this cobbled group of replacement level guys try and make it look like Kyle Tucker, Michael Brantley and George Springer weren't all just here. 

The team's batting .244 as a unit, but I have no idea how much lower that would be if Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Pena weren't there, because DAMN. Yordan Alvarez is headed for an MVP right now, because he's got a triple crown in his sights. He's hitting .322, has 35 homers and 87 RBIs. Nobody else is on that level right now, and even if Aaron Judge were healthy, that would be THE mark right now. I'm not too salty to admit Yordan Alvarez is a league-wide talent, the dude's dangerous. But he's one of the few guys keeping this team in the race.

The Rangers and Mariners have both been winning lately, and look to be making this something of a foot race. The Astros are 2 games over .500 and trying desperately to get whatever momentum they can out of what they know to be a lesser iteration of the club. Like last year, they're trying to outrun themselves, and while I like to think I know how this goes...I don't think they'll go down without a fight.

Coming Tomorrow- One of the most talented all-around athletes in the game right now, multifaceted and versatile...and just one of the many guys working to reopen the book on the story of the NL West this year.

Busch Whacked

 

I continue to marvel at the Cubs' lineup. It continues to be a collection of like-minded, overpowering offensive threats that always find a way to come together and embarrass you. The Brewers may be the better team, and may continue to be the better team, but I will not count this Cubs team out.

First of all, they have a guy who's probably winning the MVP this year. Pete Crow-Armstrong heard all the mess about his slump last year, or about his high WAR, low production stuff, and he sprung into action, with a 27-homer season, 30 steals, 72 RBIs, the potential for 30-30 with the other 30 also being a definite possibility, and some of the most incredible throws and plays in center. This man is playing eye-popping baseball and ascending to the dominance the Cubs knew he'd get to. 

And it's not like it's just him, pretty much everybody is hitting. Both catchers are hitting, Kelly with some solid .265, 42 RBI work with great defense, and Amaya with some cheesy power in there too. Swanson's HR streak has slowed down but he's still got 17 and 63 RBIs. Hoerner is powering back up again, he's hitting .260 with 55 RBIs and 18 steals. Bregman has 13 homers and 54 RBIs, and even if it's not his best, he's still great at third. Michael Busch, though down from last year, still has 63 RBIs. Ian Happ's continued his solid 2020s run and his 20 homers. Seiya Suzuki has another 20-homer year, with 67 RBIs. Even Michael Conforto is quietly having a comeback year as a DH/bench bat, with 9 homers and 26 RBIs. And then you've got this Pedro Ramirez kid, who's great defensively, great on the base paths, and hits .300. And he's the bit player in place of Matt Shaw. That's a nice bit player to have, man. 

The thing that keeps this team grounded is the pitching, and even that's improved. Kevin Gausman did well in his first Chicago start, David Peterson's 3-1 and slowly getting his groove back in different blue pinstripes, Boyd's dominant again with an 8-1 record and a 3.50 ERA, and even Imanaga's figured his stuff out again. The hope is Clay Holmes comes around, because his comeback start was shakier than it needed to be. These guys also technically need to figure out who's gonna close games, because right now it's Jacob Webb, and that's RP1 more than anything. If Daniel Palencia would stay healthy for more than 5 seconds, I'd feel better about him, but he's hurt again. With Holmes at least you have an all-star closer, but you want him starting. It's that or going with Assad or Braxton Garrett. Still time to work it out, or for Palencia to come back, but it's still worrying.

As it stands, the Cubs have the first wild card spot, and I definitely think they have enough momentum to at least hang onto a wild card berth. The Phils are also in the mix, but they're way shakier. I see the Cubs keeping their padded lead over St. Louis and continuing their August dominance. I'm not sure if this year will end any differently than last year, but at least they've got a working model and can stick to it.

Coming Tomorrow- A starter for a team that really, REALLY wants to make the playoffs this year, huh?

Guards on the Table

 

The Guardians, in recent years, will pick this time of year to either run out of steam or get going. A few years ago, they threw in the towel around this time of year, the Twins won it. Last year, it was the Tigers' division to lose when suddenly the Guardians caught absolute fire with a month and a half left to go and won it in a squeaker. 

And so here we are, 2026. The Guardians have essentially claimed the AL Central all year without being over the top wonderful. Since the all-star break, they've been atrocious. The Rays, White Sox and Twins clobbered them, that's somewhat understandable, but the Mets?? The Mets, who are just now remembering they could have been good this whole time?? Unbelievable. They brought on so many great pieces at the deadline, and next to none of them are helping. Craig Yoho is struggling mightily, Foster Griffin blew his first start, Jo Adell hasn't really taken off yet and Blake Perkins isn't even up yet. At the very least Nathaniel Lowe has been alright but the reinforcements haven't reinforced a thing. And all the while, now Slade Cecconi is hurt, now Travis Bazzana's slowing down, and the Tigers, who have already jumped them in the standings, are up next.

This Guardians team is already fundamentally very good, and has the pieces necessary to make a run. They just need to solidify. And that starts with Jose Ramirez, who was having a decent season before the injury but now needs to lead the team forward. This is a slightly lesser J-Ram year all around, with only those 29 steals seeming that regular for him. He's hit 10 homers and 36 RBIs, his OPS is .736, it's a fine enough year but we've all seen him do better, even as recently as last year. And look, we all know J-Ram's destined for Cooperstown, he's got a 30 WAR the past 5 seasons, even an okay year like this one isn't gonna derail his career. But he's still gotta be Jose Ramirez to this team, and that means bringing them forward to stop the competition. You can see Steven Kwan filling that role a little, he had a huge power moment the other night against the White Sox. You can see Rocchio and DeLauter stepping up. You can even see Austin Hedges and Patrick Bailey both having terrific seasons after being mid for so long. The effort is there all around.

But it doesn't excuse the poor baseball we've seen recently. A lot of close games mishandled, a few too many blown saves, and a lot of guys left on base. The Tigers and White Sox also want it bad, and so do the Twins ultimately. The Guardians need that insane momentum from last August to reappear and get them all the way, because stretches like this one are not how they get there.

Coming Tonight: A typically reliable member of the RBI-friendly Cubs lineup.

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.