(And yes, I refuse to use the term « first half » and it has to be the text editor deep down. Half the schedule is 81 games, and most teams passed that point a week and a half ago . So « segment » « it is.)
Of course, we’ve learned that it is probably better to extend the review process beyond the clubhouse before signing or swapping a player, or hiring a general manager or pitching coach.
We have discovered the wisdom of inventing a Shohei Ohtani notification system if one has not yet been set up. For example, every time the angels two-way sensation hits your plate, your phone will ring and “SHOHEI ALERT” will flash, which means you will get to your TV immediately.
(In the absence of a notification app, the All-Star Game is scheduled to begin Tuesday night at 4:30 p.m. PDT. Shohei will be the one to start and also be the AL’s starting mug, so either watch your TV early or take it it on. )
In the meantime, we are considering what an Angels line-up could look like, with David Fletcher beating on all cylinders along with Ohtani, Jared Walsh and a healthy Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon and Justin Upton. And then we remember that pitching still counts, it always has, and now it makes sense that out of 10 Angels picks in the first two days of the draft, all of them were college pitchers: four starters, five relievers, and one who did both.
We were also reminded again this weekend why the Dodgers, widely considered the most talented team in baseball at the start of the season, can sometimes be the most frustrating offensive team in the game.
They’re runner-up in runs in the majors, but 131 of their 476 came in 10 double-digit games, including Saturday night’s 22-1 win over last-placed Arizona. This was booked by the messy 5-2 loss on Friday night where they were 0 to 8 with runners in the points position and the first seven innings on Sunday when they were 0 to 5 and 4-1 behind in those situations . The last two innings saved them, crowned by Max Muncy’s triple walk-off homer.
The numbers say the Dodgers averaged 5.23 runs in 91 games … and 4.3 in the 81 games they didn’t get in double digits. The numbers also indicate they are 11-16 in one-run games and 1-8 in additional innings, leaving a league-leading 676 runners on the base. It’s hard to win a division, let alone win a ring, this way.
(Especially when your start pitching, which is so generous at the start of the season, is in ruins. As we’ve also learned over the past few seasons that Andrew Friedman isn’t afraid to take this big step towards the close of trade stay tuned for reinforcements.)
We found out on Sunday that there were overhauls in baseball. The Oakland A drafted Max Muncy in Baylor’s fifth round in 2012 and retired him in 2017, and he’s an All-Star now. In the first round of Sunday’s amateur draft, the A’s drafted another Max Muncy, this one shortstop that took Thousand Oaks High to a CIF championship (and, according to some reports, not just in high school competition, but in a pre -Draft workout at Oakland Coliseum). He is not related to the big league and will henceforth be known in This Space as Max Muncy, The Sequel. (Or Max The Younger for short.) Let’s see if the A’s do better this time.
But wait. There is more. Shayna Rubin, the A Beat writer for our sister newspapers in the Bay Area News Group, pointed out that both Max Muncys (Muncies?) Were born on August 25th, Max The Elder in 1990 and Max The Younger in 2002. Hall of Fame Ball writer Jayson Stark of The Athletic, the curator of all the weird and wonderful things about the game, should have a great day with it.
Max Muncy the new Athletic and Max Muncy the former Athletic and current Dodger were both born on August 25th.
We have been reminded that for some players, the four-day mid-season break from everyday life is far more important than the honor and hype of the All-Star game. Despite the mandate in the collective agreement that selected players appear when there is no injury, 10 originally selected players have been replaced, including New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom, the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts and St. Louis Cardinals veteran Yadier Molina.
By far the biggest rush at NL Media Day was for this guy, and he handled it like a pro. Sat down and joked, « I’m just here so I won’t be fined » and then for an hour answered every question asked by a huge crowd, laughing and smiling along the way. #Padres pic.twitter.com/CgP1RoSihs
Guys like Ohtani and Padres Shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. are set to carry the banner pretty well for the next generation of stars of the game in Denver. But another bright light from this generation, Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves, will miss the game and more as a cruciate ligament rupture was sustained at the end of the season on Saturday night. Sometimes exercise is just not fair.
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Then there’s this curious note: all of the Houston Astros originally selected to compete – shortstop Carlos Correa, second baseman Jose Altuve, outfielder Michael Brantley and pitcher Ryan Pressly – have retired for a variety of reasons. This means the American League West leaders won’t have a representative at the All-Star game unless someone can be brought to Denver to replace before the season starts.
This also means that none of the Astros had to show up for the media meeting on Monday and risked being asked specific questions about 2017. Coincidence? I guess not.
After all, that shouldn’t come as a surprise … well, maybe not as much as it was at the beginning of the season. Three of the best baseball teams in the National League West are wary of each other. The giants don’t go away. The Padres will be there and so will the Dodgers. It will be exhausting, especially when they play against each other, and it will be horrific at times.
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