This article is part of our Rounding Third series.
This format was well-received on Friday, so I thought I'd run it back for the night games (with one exception) for the Wednesday slate. Again, these are off the cuff reactions to the ongoing games, and will be pretty short in most instances.
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Gavin Lux got off to a good start this season, enough that even with his recent slump he still has a .262/.373/.405 line, with one homer and two stolen bases. But it appears that he's going through a throwing slump as well, though only one of these three plays was classified as an error:
Last night, this was a big error after the Dodgers had taken a 3-0 lead:
And then twice in the eighth inning today, Lux had plays that weren't errors but could have been, and at the very least on the first play, he opted against the tougher throw that might have amounted to a double play.
Bonus credit goes to Christian Walker here for not running the play out - otherwise it would have amounted to an error and a tack-on run.
Lux by no means is at the Steve Sax or Chuck Knoblauch level in terms of the throwing yips at second base, at least yet. And his miscues weren't even the worst plays of the inning today -- Max Muncy's throwing error was the play of the game. But Lux isn't yet established as a full-time player, so an issue like this
This format was well-received on Friday, so I thought I'd run it back for the night games (with one exception) for the Wednesday slate. Again, these are off the cuff reactions to the ongoing games, and will be pretty short in most instances.
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Gavin Lux got off to a good start this season, enough that even with his recent slump he still has a .262/.373/.405 line, with one homer and two stolen bases. But it appears that he's going through a throwing slump as well, though only one of these three plays was classified as an error:
Last night, this was a big error after the Dodgers had taken a 3-0 lead:
And then twice in the eighth inning today, Lux had plays that weren't errors but could have been, and at the very least on the first play, he opted against the tougher throw that might have amounted to a double play.
Bonus credit goes to Christian Walker here for not running the play out - otherwise it would have amounted to an error and a tack-on run.
Lux by no means is at the Steve Sax or Chuck Knoblauch level in terms of the throwing yips at second base, at least yet. And his miscues weren't even the worst plays of the inning today -- Max Muncy's throwing error was the play of the game. But Lux isn't yet established as a full-time player, so an issue like this could conceivably cost him playing time in the long-run.
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Willy Adames lined out in the first inning on a ball measured with a 105.9 mph exit velocity, according to Baseball Savant. You know what's coming next, if you've been following along -- the ball "... died in the cold air (as described by the Pittsburgh broadcasters) ..." for a 363-foot fly out. After three innings, again according to Baseball Savant, Pittsburgh had an xBA of .393 after three innings and zero hits to show for it, and they had no hits through five innings. In fact, both teams had zero hits going into the sixth. In fairness, it was cold in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night -- in the 30s -- so that has something to do with the ball not carrying. But the ball is absolutely a culprit again here.
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Local broadcasts are great for highlighting what's happening with a particular player that you might otherwise miss. Wander Franco had a huge night on Friday against the Red Sox, but after that they adjusted to him by throwing him more change-ups (h/t to the Rays broadcast for pointing that out), putting him into an 0-for-12 mini-slump that was broken late with a homer Tuesday night. Seattle followed suit the last two days, the latest being Marco Gonzales striking out Franco in the first inning Wednesday night with a change-up. At the time of this writing, he's 0-for-3 in the game.
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On DirecTV's Extra Innings package, I frequently watch the "grid channel" (channel 720) where I can see eight games at once. On busy nights, they cut that down to seven games, with the eighth square going to MLB Network Strike Zone, MLB's equivalent to the Red Zone channel. Brian Kenny was the host Friday night, and he was excellent as always. Tonight it's Matt Yallof, who reminds me so much of the late Fred Willard, both by the sound of his voice, and with the content of his observations. To wit, his comment, which was in praise of Rafael Devers, contained: "... Rafael Devers ... he's like, what 18 years old, I dunno what he is, 23 or 24? Doesn't matter ...." Later he made an Auntie 'Em reference that he immediately tried to take back. Yallof is toiling in semi-obscurity, but I'm enjoying his work.
And yes, I'm going take this gratuitous opportunity to link to a Fred Willard "Best in Show" clip.
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Within minutes, two No. 13s hit monster home runs. Joey Gallo for the Yankees in Yankee Stadium, and Abraham Toro for the Mariners in the Trop. Both would have been out in any ballpark. Toro's was in a losing cause, off of Andrew Kittredge. We got Drew Rasmussen's first good start of the season -- not that the initial offerings were necessarily bad, but they were abbreviated and a little messy. Rasmussen cruised in this one, going six innings with nine strikeouts, only allowing two hits and a walk. Length was the issue from Rasmussen going into this season, so this outing, which lasted 84 pitches, was especially encouraging.
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Odubel Herrera led off the bottom of the first for the Phillies with a 429-foot homer and has homers in back-to-back games. He's batting leadoff against right-handers, with the Phillies facing right-handed starters in 10 of the next 12 games. He's rostered in 45 percent of the 15-team NFBC Main Event leagues, but only two percent in Yahoo! leagues and one percent in the 12-team RotoWire Online Championship.
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If the Reds played the Padres every day, Tommy Pham would be an All-Star as he continues his "revenge tour." Unfortunately for the Reds, Eric Hosmer would also be an All-Star, despite no need for revenge.
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Joe Ryan shoved again tonight for the Twins, throwing seven scoreless against the Tigers, striking out nine while allowing a single and a walk. With the effort tonight Ryan has a 1.17 ERA, 0.70 WHIP and a 25:6 K:BB over 23 innings. Only two of his starts have come against AL Central foes, with the other two coming against the Mariners and Red Sox. The Marlins have justifiably gotten a lot of praise for nabbing Jesus Luzardo in exchange for two (superb) months of Starling Marte, but the Twins deserve just as much credit for getting Ryan in exchange for Nelson Cruz -- maybe more so, as Ryan has even less service time.
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The buy-low window on Kyle Tucker, if it existed, is starting to close. He just hit a bases-clearing double to help dig Cristian Javier and the Astros out of an early hole. On Tuesday he hit a three-run homer, and on Monday he went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base. He was still priced at $4,200 on Draft Kings on Wednesday, though I suspect that will rise soon.
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Here's a few early bullpen observations:
- With Aroldis Chapman getting the night off, it was Clay Holmes getting the save for the Yankees instead of Jonathan Loaisiga or Chad Green. Loaisiga pitched last night and is having a rough start to the season, but Green last pitched on Saturday -- though Green has also struggled. Holmes is the hot hand, so he's getting the call.
- Tanner Scott picked up a save on Saturday night for the Marlins, prompting those in leagues with first-come, first-serve moves to pick him up. Since then, Scott got pounded in a non-save situation on Sunday, then came into the game tonight in the eighth inning with two outs to face Juan Soto. Unfortunately for Scott, Jazz Chisholm committed a fielding error on a Soto ground ball, and then Scott walked the next two batters. Anthony Bender had to also pitch in the eighth and got the last out on a Yadiel Hernandez 107.3 mph "... the wind is blowing in ..." fly out. Thus, Bender got the lucky save tonight, also featuring a Maikel Franco rocket down the left field line that hit the top of the wall. Franco stared the ball down at the plate, thinking it was gone, and had to settle for a single.
- Also noteworthy from the Nats-Marlins game was Tanner Rainey pitching the top of the eighth with the Nationals trailing, and Kyle Finnegan getting the ninth. It's worth noting that Rainey was facing 3-4-5 in the Marlins order, in Jorge Soler, Jesus Sanchez and Avisail Garcia. I don't think this is a role change, but rather a get-work outing for Rainey in the most-leveraged situation possible for him. The Nationals were 6-13 and have lost six in a row, and Rainey has pitched twice since April 13.
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Cristian Javier was able to make it five innings in his first start, solidifying after a bumpy second inning. I was a little too eager to use him in DraftKings -- at $7,000 against the Rangers, it seemed like a good price, but I should have known he wouldn't work too deep in the game. He left with a 4-2 lead in the game, at least.
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Charlie Morton had another rough outing tonight, lasting just 2.1 innings while giving up four hits and four walks, throwing only 38 strikes among his 32 pitches. He had only three whiffs among those 70 pitches and only one on his fastball. I think it's premature to declare Morton done, though one always worries about the cliff for a 38-year old pitcher. I'm operating under the assumption that Morton is behind schedule, allowing for his recovery from the fractured fibula that sidelined him in Game 1 of the World Series.
In the same game, Dansby Swanson came through with a big two-run single in the eighth inning against the Cubs' Mychal Givens, with the Braves rallying after Givens got the first two outs. Swanson has been really rough this season, striking out in every game but one. He's hitting ninth in the order for the most part and has given the Braves no reason to change that. The big hit changed the story line for the Braves, as they were a left-on-base machine, especially Ozzie Albies, who is 0-for-5 so far with five LOB. I rostered Albies in DFS tonight, paying up against Mark Leiter Jr. and company -- my apologies.
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I was too scared to use Paul Blackburn ($8,800 on DraftKings) against the Giants, but I'm watching this start closely. He hasn't gone more than five innings yet, but he's also faced a couple of good road opponents (Tampa Bay and Toronto) to begin the season. His walk allowed to Jason Vosler in the third inning was just the second walk he's allowed so far this year.
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The Red Sox have one homer in their last nine games, though they at least scored seven runs against the Blue Jays tonight. Xander Bogaerts worried me in the first inning when he fouled a ball off his shin and required brief medical attention, but not only did he remain in the game, he went 4-for-4 with a walk, two runs and an RBI. He's now up to .397 on the season, albeit with one homer and one stolen base.
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Taylor Ward did it again, starting off Wednesday night with a lead-off double and then hit a grand slam. Joe Maddon is a super-genius, not a super-villain, at least for tonight. Seriously though, it's hard to complain about Jo Adell's playing time when he's hitting .250/.264/.481 with just one walk and 21 strikeouts. We sometimes run into the trap of number-scouting without paying closer attention to how players are looking in their at-bats. I don't want to say the "eye test" should overrule a player's track record, but when the track record is already shaky as it is with Adell, perhaps we should buy in to those scouting observations a little more.
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Late-game closer notes:
- Dany Jimenez got his fourth save of the year in the win over the Giants. Will Jimenez simply take over the role, no matter when Lou Trivino returns from the COVID-IL? Who is Trivino to be the full-time, established closer anyhow? I find the "... the A's will make sure Trivino closes so that they can trade him at the deadline ..." angle to be a little dubious, from both Trivino's performance angle and from the notion that teams will overvalue closers in the trade market these days. You don't have to be a MoneyBall adherent to downgrade a relief pitcher's value in 2022.
- Ryne Stanek and not Hector Neris got the save for the Astros on Wednesday, though Stanek allowed a run with the tying run on third base when he finally converted the save chance. Astros manager Dusty Baker said that Ryan Pressly's return from the IL is not imminent. I split the baby with Pressly in the two leagues where I had him. I activated him in the XFL, but waited for the potential midweek activation in AL Tout Wars.
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Those are some of the headlines that caught my eye on Wednesday night. What else grabbed your attention?
