Welcome to a different version of 5 Issues I Preferred (Or Didn’t Like) this week. I’m undecided if that is by design or just a scheduling coincidence, however this week was filled with compelling matchups between present rivals. The Cubs and Cardinals squared off. So did the Yankees and Orioles. The Guardians and Mariners aren’t precisely rivals, however their sequence rocked too, and I’m unhappy I couldn’t discover a approach to squeeze them on this week. That stated, there’s a ton to speak about, so let’s get to it, after our typical nod to Zach Lowe of ESPN, who is unquestionably having fun with a well-deserved trip after the conclusion of the NBA season. To baseball!
1. Willie Mays
I nearly didn’t write about Willie Mays this week. I really feel unqualified. What do you say in regards to the best baseball participant of all time? Mays was like one thing out of fiction, the platonic perfect of an outfielder. Everybody who noticed him play knew it immediately: This man was simply completely different. Statistics alone are a woefully insufficient approach of describing him, however these statistics are comical. He hit 660 house runs, batted .301, and walked as usually as he struck out. He’s most likely the perfect defensive middle fielder of all time. He racked up greater than 3,000 hits, gained two MVPs, made 24 All-Star groups; the checklist goes on and on.
That’s probably not the story of Willie Mays, although. The story of Willie Mays, for me, is the common admiration that each baseball participant had for him. I’ve by no means heard a nasty phrase about Mays. He was an idol and a mentor on the similar time. He transcended eras, coasts, fanbases; he wasn’t a well-known Giants participant, he was a well-known baseball participant. Which may even undersell it – he was one of many greatest celebrities within the nation. Even almost 60 years after his heyday, defenders need to be like him. He was the good, the perfect. That by no means stopped being true.
Loads of different individuals have written touching Mays tributes (tons of hyperlinks). I liked Jay Jaffe’s encapsulation of what Mays meant each on and off the sector. I don’t have a lot so as to add that hasn’t already been stated. However I couldn’t speak in regards to the week in baseball with out paying my respects. Willie Mays was an enormous in each attainable definition of the phrase. Effectively, apart from bodily stature, which makes his total excellence all of the extra spectacular. There’ll nearly actually by no means be one other baseball participant like him. I see echoes of Mays in each over-the-shoulder catch, each play on the plate, each lovely day sport in San Francisco. Might his reminiscence dwell on ceaselessly.
2. Hunter Greene Hitting Corners
Hunter Greene’s profession has been a combined bag up to now. He burst onto the scene within the halcyon days of (checks notes) 2022, earlier than each single starter appeared to throw 100 mph. He’s the final beginning pitcher prospect I can consider whose standout instrument was pure velocity. It hasn’t labored that approach within the majors, which is a part of why he has a profession 4.36 ERA and 4.21 FIP. It looks like velocity alone simply gained’t do it anymore.
Greene has largely survived by leaning on his slider. This yr, although, he’s made some promising fastball adjustments. The pitch is extra vertical than earlier than, which provides him extra leeway to assault the zone with out falling into the dreaded line of normality that hitters are so adept at attacking.
That’s the how. I’m extra within the wow, although. I’ve been having velocity fatigue; now that everybody throws so exhausting, it’s simply not enjoyable. However, recognizing 100 mph on the corners is pleasant. Greene put collectively a masterful begin on Wednesday – 6 1/3 innings, 9 strikeouts, no runs – and his fastball was a key a part of it. He got here out fastball-heavy and began carving immediately. Nick Gonzales is an efficient hitter, however nobody’s an excellent hitter in opposition to this:
Rowdy Tellez spoiled one other gem:
Greene had the ball on a string, working his fastball down within the zone when he wished to:
He caught the underside edge to catch Tellez wanting:
Andrew McCutchen struck out on an ideal pitch:
Even when the umpire didn’t agree, this one was nice too:
This isn’t the primary time Greene has seemed to be on the verge of a breakout, however on earlier events, his slider was doing the heavy lifting. This time, he’s allotting with the flexible stuff and successful with fastballs. I’ve been responsible of shopping for into Greene breakouts too quickly earlier than, however what can I say? Right here I’m, once more, able to imagine. The mix of nice location and overpowering stuff is simply an excessive amount of to disregard.
3. The Immortal Kyle Hendricks
By all rights, Kyle Hendricks must be unhealthy by now. He’s at all times been a type of “I’m undecided how he does it, however he does it” guys, and he’s been trending much less and fewer efficient lately. He began this season with the form of 10-game stretch that normally will get you despatched to the phantom IL: 9.38 ERA, solely 30 strikeouts and 15 walks in almost 200 batters confronted, and the form of contact high quality that makes you go “Oh proper, he throws 85.” In truth, he did get despatched to the IL midway by that streak, and continued to scuffle upon returning. It felt like a tragic swan track for probably the most pleasant Cubs of this technology.
The Cubs have struggled mightily with pitching this yr, which signifies that Hendricks didn’t utterly disappear; he merely moved to the bullpen. His first three appearances had been hardly the stuff of legends – 10 innings, 5 strikeouts, 4 walks, 4.50 ERA, 4.65 FIP – however they had been actually much less disastrous than his preliminary beginning run. Perhaps he could possibly be a bulk center reliever and end out the yr that approach?
Solely, there was excellent news coming within the type of unhealthy information. Jordan Wicks suffered a fluke damage within the second inning of the June 14 Cardinals-Cubs conflict at Wrigley Subject. When Craig Counsell seemed out to his bullpen, there was previous dependable Hendricks, prepared to come back in and absorb some innings. Longtime Hendricks heads know that he merely can’t lose in opposition to St. Louis. The one approach he may personal the crew extra completely could be if he married into the DeWitt household. In his profession heading into this sport, he had a 2.68 ERA in opposition to them over 167 2/3 innings. The Playing cards are batting .244/.285/.377 in opposition to him. They don’t get on base or hit for energy in opposition to him. It’s uncanny – they merely can’t clear up him, no matter who’s on the roster.
Clearly, the streak continued. Hendricks isn’t lacking bats nowadays – not that he was ever an enormous strikeout man, however he’s working a career-low strikeout charge and career-high stroll charge. He didn’t miss many bats in opposition to the Redbirds – one strikeout in 15 batters confronted – however once more, they simply can’t hit him. They popped the ball up:
They hit it into the bottom:
They took awkward test swings:
They missed middle-middle 88-mph fastballs by a mile:
Hendricks left this outing with the primary actual momentum he’s had all yr. Counsell instantly added him to the rotation – there had been an damage, in any case. He got here again and put a spell on the Giants: 5 2/3 innings pitched, eight (!!) strikeouts, two hits, and a solitary earned run.
Hendricks seemed utterly damaged. He couldn’t purchase an out; every part he threw was getting tattooed. Then he confronted his favourite opponent, and now he’s again higher than he’s been in years. It seems to be like we’ll get yet another probability to benefit from the pleasant sight of a Hendricks slowball turning hitters into pretzels. I can’t even be mad. Good work, Cardinals – you’ve rekindled probably the most pleasant flames in trendy baseball.
4. The Go-Go NL Central
I like steals, and I do know I’m not alone in that. Baseball can drag, even for me, when it’s all strikeouts and walks. Including a burst of athleticism and high-stakes shut performs to the proceedings is invariably thrilling. I’m glad that the league was in a position to modify the incentives sufficient to convey steals again into the limelight – and the NL Central is unquestionably glad too.
The Reds have essentially the most stolen bases within the majors. The Brewers are proper behind them in second. The Cubs are within the prime 10 in baseball and third in runs added through steals as a result of they’ve been caught solely 12 instances. This week, all three teams of speedsters had been as much as their typical methods, inflicting havoc on the basepaths and maintaining my eyes glued to them.
The Reds bought issues began, as they so usually do, with Elly De La Cruz. He’s the runaway main league chief in steals, and he ripped off three in three video games, starting Saturday in opposition to the Brewers. He can steal in largely uncontested spots, after all: Down three within the ninth inning, Milwaukee basically gave him second base as a participation trophy. He can stroll, steal second, after which take two extra bases on an errant pickoff throw:
And he can steal off of fellow phenom Paul Skenes, although Skenes managed to select him off earlier within the sport:
The Brewers undertake extra of a crew strategy. They stole at the very least two baggage in each sport of their set in opposition to the Reds, with Brice Turang and Christian Yelich main the way in which. Turang is an outright burner; solely De La Cruz has extra steals. Yelich is extra attention-grabbing to me – he’s 32, and never fairly as quick as he was at his athletic peak, however he’s been an absolute demon for the reason that introduction of the pickoff-throw restrict final yr: 43 steals, 4 caught stealings. Yeah, that’ll do. Even Willy Adames has 10 swipes this yr. The Brewers are the perfect baserunning crew in baseball, and it’s as a result of they run nicely from the highest of the roster to the underside.
That leaves the Cubs, and I’ll degree with you: They’re the rationale I wished to put in writing this merchandise. The Cubs have solely two gamers with double-digit steals. One in every of them, Pete Crow-Armstrong, has a 51 wRC+, so he’s not precisely keying their offense. As an alternative, that is an ensemble effort. They decide their spots and assault opposing weaknesses. This week, that weak point was the Giants’ defending in conditions with a number of runners on base. The Cubs ate their lunch:
Curt Casali didn’t even throw right here, as a result of there was merely no shot. Seiya Suzuki timed Tyler Rogers too nicely. Then it occurred once more:
That was simply straightforward cash, and the Cubs had been solely too joyful to just accept it. The subsequent day, they saved it going:
Once they noticed the Giants weren’t throwing by, they simply ran it again:
And when the Giants lastly did throw by, they couldn’t even make a tag:
Wait, what? Right here’s a better look:
That’s what you ought to be doing! These bases had been free. The Cubs merely needed to ask politely. Extra of this, please. In case your opponent gained’t cease what you’re doing, why would you cease doing it? I’m undecided that that is what the league imagined when it applied the brand new guidelines, however I like watching it, simply as a lot as I’m certain catchers hate it.
5. The Battle of the Bronx
The Orioles and Yankees have been circling one another all yr. Whereas the Guardians bought off to a sizzling begin, neither AL East crew was ever far off the tempo for the perfect document within the AL, and every shot previous Cleveland in June. The 2 golf equipment boast the 2 greatest run differentials within the majors. They rank first and second within the AL in each runs scored and runs allowed. They’re additionally neck and neck for the division title and the bye that comes with it.
The primary time the 2 met this yr, the O’s took three out of 4 to drag a sport forward of New York within the standings. The Yankees took first place again within the interim, however this has the sensation of a race that may stay shut all yr. This week’s three-game set mattered each for the fast division lead – an Orioles sweep would give them sole possession of first – and head-to-head tiebreakers. The groups solely meet twice extra this yr: as soon as in July, as soon as in September. If the Orioles gained this week’s sequence, they’d have to win solely two of these final six video games to safe the tiebreaker.
These video games lived as much as the billing. On Tuesday, the Yankees jumped out to an early lead earlier than Aaron Choose left after being hit within the hand by an errant Albert Suarez pitch. Nestor Cortes went six shutout innings to again that early offense, and even a two-run homer within the ninth couldn’t convey the Birds again. Choose escaped critical damage and returned to the New York lineup after lacking only one sport, thankfully sufficient.
That set issues up properly for the Yankees. That they had their pitching arrange in addition to it has been all yr. Gerrit Cole’s first begin of the season was Wednesday, and he seemed sharp in 4 innings of labor. 4 innings, although, put a ton of stress on the bullpen, and so they couldn’t fairly maintain issues collectively. The New York offense didn’t do sufficient in opposition to Baltimore starter Cade Povich – the Yankees scored a single run regardless of strolling 5 instances and putting out solely as soon as. They rallied late to ship the sport to further innings, however Choose’s absence harm, and the O’s scored two within the tenth to knot the sequence at one.
On paper, Luis Gil in opposition to Cole Irvin stacked up nicely for New York within the climactic sport of the sequence. However the O’s jumped throughout Gil proper from the beginning. He didn’t escape the second inning, and shortly Baltimore led 8-1. The Yankees managed to battle again ultimately, however the Orioles feasted on the center of the New York bullpen within the meantime and put the sport utterly out of attain. By the point it ended at 17-5, Jose Trevino was lobbing in knuckleballs and each groups’ stars had been taking early showers.
It’s unlikely that this week’s skirmish would be the final phrase on the AL East race. The Yankees are nonetheless in entrance, in any case, and there’s loads of baseball left to be performed. That didn’t make the sequence any much less intense, although, or make both crew need it much less. These are the sorts of baseball video games that get my coronary heart pumping even in the course of June. Extra, please.
